The Teacher's Pet
by kalebxdd
Summary: Against the family's expectations, Gohan became a Literature teacher, and a damn good one at that. His students and colleagues adore him and his pupils graduate his classes with an average two points above the national. But then two new students enroll, and suddenly he begins to question not only his competence, but also himself.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello world! Today I bring you a new story! I am obviously syked about it and proud of it, because a lot of the subjects here are ones I never used for my writing before. I hope that you'll take as much enjoyment out of reading it as I did writing it. **

**A very large part of this story has already been written. Guessing from what I have now, I think I'm a little over two thirds of the way in. So, if you happen to see anything that you might find strange, not in line with canon or something that seems like a plot hole to you, be patient. I'll cover my tracks, I promise :)**

**This will not be a very big story. This chapter itself is small for my doing, and I think that the story wil become no bigger than about 4 chapters. So, if you want something that you can read in one sitting, I'm your guy :)**

**Many thanks to ~Boboleta, who always helps me through the rougher patches and is a great motivational screamer. **

**I've said everything I've wanted to say. Please read, review and enjoy!**

* * *

A good cup of finely burnt bean coffee was the Nectar of The Gods. Gohan had always held to this conviction. With good reason though; every single experienced teacher could tell you that without the daily cup 'o Joe, blackboard rulers suddenly became a whole lot more threatening and possibly deadly.

This morning, however, it quickly became apparent that today would not be _his _day. He wasn't entirely certain what had been the giveaway; finding a fine underneath his window wipers and nearly squashing the cat on his way out the door were contending for first place at the moment. He'd hardly gotten the time to say goodbye to his wife and child after sleeping through his alarm, forcing him to fly about his daily routine with the speed of a Super Saiyan. This had led to him nearly breaking his neck over a stray Furby as he tried to struggle out of the suffocating hold of his necktie.

As he was –obivously- hopelessly stuck in traffic, Gohan longed for a cup of coffee from that new machine in the teacher's lounge. South City's board of funding had decreed that the school was losing money, and had therefore decided to stop issuing the school newspaper on a monthly basis. This was good according to most, because that had cleared the budget for a hot beverage maker, from a manufacturer that no one could pronounce correctly. Priorities, priorities….

When he had finally arrived at work, cramming his lunchbox of a car in the single spot still left available, the first set of classes had already begun. He silently thanked Dende that his own lessons weren't due to start until second period, leaving him with some time to sit down and drink himself a cup.

The trip from the parking lot to the door was always the least favourite part of his workday. Gohan told himself to breathe through his nose while he bee lined for the main entrance. A few of the older students stood in front of the row of doors, which led to the lockers and coat racks available to students. Cigarettes fumed softly between their fingers, and the smell was simply excruciating. Gohan nodded curtly to a girl that waved and smiled at him, and then he retreated inside, where he could breathe freely without the inhaling tar and toxins.

Most of the school's interior had been designed by a renowned decorator, one of the kind that always calls his own work 'art'. Gohan figured he was a lot more colour-blind than artistic. The small shiver of disgust upon seeing the walls around him had become just as much a part of his daily routine as drinking coffee. Basically, most of the walls, floors, lockers and pillars were multi-coloured, in tie dye fashion. The teacher always reckoned that the board of South City High School had chosen the new look in an attempt to be 'hip', and appeal to the younger crowd. Gohan would personally get to his knees in worship for the person who managed to get any fourteen-year-old-motivated for education; having your hallways painted as ugly as sin itself certainly did not contribute to that.

With his fake-leather briefcase slung over his shoulder, he casually strolled over to the information booth at the end of the entrance hallway, reading the time on the clock above it. It was only 8.47 a.m., so he still had plenty of time to kill before his first class of the day. He halted at the counter and tapped the little golden bell perched on it; it was the kind of thing you always saw at the check-in counter for some luxury hotel.

A portly woman with horn-rimmed glasses glared up at him, and then smiled. She put aside the clipboard she had been reading from and began to stare at Gohan dreamily. The blonde beehive on top of her head wobbled dangerously.

"Good morning, Mr. Son." she greeted.

"Morning, Cynthia," Gohan said. "And how many times do I have to tell you? It's just fine if you call me Gohan."

She waved it off as if she hadn't heard him. "Slow going today, isn't it?"

"For you maybe," Gohan told her. "I've been to hell and back already, and I haven't even had my morning coffee!"

"Well then don't let me keep you waiting!" Cynthia giggled and then returned her attention to the previously discarded clipboard.

Gohan turned away from the information counter and once again made way for the teacher's lounge. He could feel Cynthia's eyes staring holes into his back. The woman had always had a thing for him, he knew. After marrying Videl, he had gotten a lot better at picking up the signs that told him so. He tried to feel empathy for the woman, and tried to envision him a day in her love life, but all he saw were cats, and lots of them.

The teacher's lounge was empty for the time being. Gohan threw his briefcase aside and loosened his tie. He felt that he should dress appropriately in front of his students, to set the right example, but at the first second of privacy that curt man in his suit would completely evaporate into thin air. The steady hum of the coffee maker grinding out his first cup of the day was like sweet music to his ears.

Two minutes later, with the truly satisfying smell of burnt coffee beans in his nostrils, Gohan read through some notes for his upcoming lesson. The subject was 'Literature'. It would've been a bit strange to see how his academic interests had shifted, to an outsider at least. During his early teens he had been at Capsule Corps more often than not, tinkering with many of Bulma's inventions and learning the mechanics and physics of genius. Then again, if only his mother had taken the trouble to really check what he was up to, she would've noticed the worn-out copy of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' behind his algebra book.

He sipped his coffee once, then put the cup down and stirred. He hadn't put any cream or sugar in his coffee for fifteen years, but the habit had never left him. He sank back a little further into the cushions of the sofa, and reached for his book. The new school year had begun only a week ago, but due to unfortunate sickness Gohan hadn't been able to teach the whole first five days. He would face his first new class today. He had been told that most of the kids there would be about fifteen or sixteen years old. A fair few of them had only just come from junior high, so Gohan saw no reason to worry over anything.

Today's first lesson would not be about a specific book, nor would be the rest of the classes. The literature teacher firmly believed that if he wanted to get his students motivated, throwing dusty old stories at them from day one would not be the way to go. He had instead opted to use the hour to talk about literature itself. That way he got to know just where their reading interests lay.

Having finished his coffee, Gohan made to put his cup away. He then head towards his classroom for the final preparations. He was halted in the doorway, however, by none other than Mr. Grayson, the school's principal. Gohan had never really liked he man; whether it was his short demeanour, short temper, or the fact that a ten foot stick up his ass, Gohan couldn't tell. His greying hair was parted at the size with such precision that Gohan suspected him from combing it against a ruler every morning.

"Good morning, Professor Son," Grayson said, courteous as always. "I hope that you are all well to teach again?"

"Yep," Gohan confirmed. "Absolutely, one hundred percent fine."

"Good, good. Well I wish you the best of luck for the oncoming period. From what I've heard, the class you are facing seems to have a bad reputation already."

"Ah," Gohan waved the older man's distress away. "I'm not too worried over it, how bad can they be?"

Grayson blinked at him twice stupidly, as if he teacher had just told him that unicorns were real. Then he spoke. "Well I've only heard rumours, but apparently most of the troubles in that class are the work of two individuals."

"Well if they turn out to be any trouble, I'll give 'em the Demon's Eye." It was his made-up name for the death glare he had used to pierce through villains the likes of Cell. It worked surprisingly well on high school students, sometimes even a little too well.

"Let me know how that turns out for me, will you?" Gohan could swear he saw Grayson smirk, likely at the thought of a fifteen-year-old boy soiling himself in fright. "If you'll excuse me now, I have to grab some files from my mail slot and be on my way."

And with that, the bell rang, sounding in another nine months of demotivated students and bad essays about Charles Dickens' novels.

* * *

The flow of students moving into his classroom was slowly beginning to decline. Soon the second bell would ring, but Gohan figured he would have everything inside by then. The kids who walked inside he offered a friendly smile or a little wave, to give them the sense that they were welcome. It was nothing more than a standard teaching trick. He was delighted to see that most of them took their seats immediately. Some of them were already unpacking their books.

He took a look at the group of youngsters. They didn't seem to be much out of the ordinary; you had your jocks, geeks, girly girls and from what it seemed even a pretty girly boy.

When most of the ruckus had settled down, Gohan walked to the front of the class and held a hand up, effectively silencing his new audience. He couldn't resist smirking; he still had it.

"You will not need your books today," he said, gesturing at the many text books scattered across the tables. "Today is just for introductions."

This was received with a concert of loud whooping and cheering. A boy in the back, with a Capsule Corps shirt and a beanie on his head, decided to join in on the noise by belching from the pit of his stomach, for which he received gales of laughter from his peers. _Class clown, duly noted._

Gohan figured he wouldn't need to check the absentee list today. He was going to discuss his students' reading preferences anyway, so he could ask them their names themselves.

"My name is Son Gohan, but you can refer to me as Mr. Son." The collective groan that came as a response sounded just delightful. "Today I just want to get to know you guys. Sure enough, we're gonna have to talk about books too, but we won't read anything this week yet."

He shrugged off his jacket and threw it at his desk chair. He undid the top button of his shirt and loosened his tie. He was certain that would do away with some of the 'uptightness' of his outfit, and sure enough the atmosphere in the class seemed to relax quite immediately.

"So, seeing how this is Literature class, I expect you guys to know that we will be doing a lot of reading this year." Groans filled the room again. Gohan didn't mind them. "Do any of you actually have reading as a hobby?"

There was a pregnant pause filled with deafening silence. Then slowly, a petite girl in the back of the class raised her hand. As a response, seven other students did the same.

"Ah, so that's about seven out of thirty. Wonderful!" The teacher cheered. "Now, for today's lesson I only want to talk about the kind of books you guys like. You there, up front." He pointed at a boy who had more metal than skin on his face. "What's your name?"

The kid in question looked at him with purple eyes, obviously the work of some sketchy set of coloured lenses. His piercings clicked together with a metallic clank as his lips moved.

"My name is Chad."

"And tell me, Chad, when you read, what kind of stories do you like?"

The gears in Chad's brains seemed to need a strenuous amount of effort to answer a question that simple. His face was contorted in concentration.

"I like stories with dragons and hobbits and all that stuff."

"Dragons and hobbits and all that stuff," Gohan parroted. "Well Chad, that's just excellent." Chad began to glow with pride.

"Now, you there," The petite girl in the back who had raised her hand first piped up immediately, now that the teacher's attention was on her. This was likely the kind of student that would ask if she hadn't made that one mistake in question 14b of an exam on which she had scored a 112 percent. "What might your name be?"

"Lisa, sir," she said. "And I really love drama stories! But I love romance too! And detective novels are so exciting too!" Gohan raised a hand to cut her off. Her words had begun to speed up the further she came along a sentence, and he had to stop her before she became an avalanche of speech.

"Okay, okay," he reasoned. "It's good to see so much diversity already. That means that we all get to read something we actually do enjoy this year."

Someone in the back snickered. Gohan turned around, half a look of amusement on his features. It had been the boy with the beanie on his head. On the left side, he noted the kid had pinned a button that read "Just Saiyan'". Gohan reckoned it was just the slang these days, but that didn't take away the fact that it hit home really close.

"Hey, Mr, Beanie," the teacher said, smiling. "Why don't you tell me your name?"

"Sure," the kid replied, more interested in the scratches on his desk than the man in front of him. He threw an arm over the backrest of his chair and slung his feet on the empty one beside him. "The Name's Obody, Nicolas Obody." The class erupted with laughter at the unfunny joke. Beanie Boy inclined his head in a bow of gratitude.

"Well then, Mr. Nobody," Gohan only had to hold up his hand to make the silence return. He walked over to the boy's table, bending over to look him in the eye. The boy suspiciously avoided his gaze as much as possible. "Tell me, what kind of books do you like?"

"Do the magazines with the naked girls in them count too?" he grinned at his own words. "I sure do like those, but every time I read those, my pants shrink two sizes."

Even Gohan had to laugh at that one. Granted, the kid may have been a complete wise-ass, but he knew how to crack a good joke.

"Unfortunately, no," he said. "But we do get to read some books that you could use your other head for."

'Nicolas Obody' grew as red as a ripe tomato. His classmates nearly cried in laughter, their heads on the tables and their faces muffled against the wooden surfaces. Chad had even fallen off his chair.

"Now, Nicolas, if you don't want to tell me your real name, that's fine with me," Gohan said truthfully. "But if you would please take your feet off that chair, I would very much appreciate it."

"Hey, don't blame me; I'm just keeping the seat occupied."

"And where is the rightful butt this chair belongs to?"

"I dunno," Beanie Boy said. "He's probably just late. I saw him at the beginning of school though, so I'm sure he's here."

"Well, that's great and all, but still." He moved his hands, gesturing for Beanie Boy to remove his feet, which he did.

The rest of class went on by normal standards for exactly five minutes. Gohan had just ordered the class to make a word cloud of things they associate with reading, when the door to the room swung open. Gohan was hardly paying attention; he knew this was the kid Beanie Boy had referred to. Along with the newcomer came the penetrating stench of tobacco.

He heard the new arrival take his seat. "Why are you late?" It was much more a demand than a question. The addressed teenager whispered some quick words to his neighbour before answering.

"I'm sorry sir; I had to bring some books back to the school's library."

The teacher turned around rapidly at the sound of the far too familiar voice. The new kid himself looked at Gohan with eyes as dark as freshly turned earth from behind black strands so wild, yet so similar to Gohan's, that the teacher felt like he was looking at a photo of himself, taken about ten years prior.

"Goten?"

Yes, it was his little brother alright, but there were so many things about him that were… different. Gohan had not been around a whole awful lot during the summer holidays, so the shift in tone in Goten's voice didn't escape his notice. His little brother was barrelling into puberty right now, his voice croaking and hair probably sprouting wherever it could reach. Yet it still wasn't the most remarkable aspect.

No, what was different about Goten had nothing to do with the kid finally hitting puberty the way he should. It was still the little boy that Gohan had grown up with during his teenage years, yet everything about him was different. While their mother wouldn't allow her children to wear their training clothes to school, Gohan didn't think she'd agree with her youngest son's attire either. The vest that he wore was baggy and hung limply over one shoulder. A cap –they were called 'caps' these days, not hats, Gohan had been told- stood askew on his head and the bottoms of his jeans dragged along the linoleum floor.

Gohan turned to Beanie Boy, who he suddenly suspected of throwing his voice all along. The kid, understanding that the game was up, pulled the cloth from his head. Lilac haired tumbled down in thick strands, falling over blue eyes. The boy grinned at his teacher, and Gohan found himself smirking. Little runt, he should've known!

"Wait, hold the phone," a plump, red-haired girl in front of the class called Gohan back to attention. He had just learned that her name was Monique. "Do you three know each other?"

"Yes, we're distant relatives." Goten said in a 'don't-ask-me-again' undertone.

While Gohan would've perfectly understood Goten's will to not have the whole school know that the Literature Teacher was also his big brother, the remark still stung deeply. He had said it was such aloofness, as if even something as small and far away as 'distant relatives' held no value to him whatsoever. Gohan tried to find his brother's eyes; they had always been an open book where the rest of Goten was silent. His own orbs softened, but Goten's stared back without blinking, an irritation in them that was unfamiliar to Gohan.

"Yup," Gohan confirmed the painful lie. "Mother's sister's second cousin, I think it was."

"Well then perhaps you should check the family tree again sometime," Monique suggested. "You two do look an awful lot alike, if you ask me." Then she whispered to her neighbour. "Perhaps Mommy liked Daddy's brother just a bit too much"

Class had to be continued; there was no way around that. Now that Goten had also taken his seat, Gohan slapped his palms together, effectively catching the collective attention.

"I would like all of you to finish your word clouds right now." He eyed his watch. "I'll give you about five more minutes to round of the last of it. After that we'll discuss our findings."

As his class turned their faces towards their work again, Gohan's eye fell on the duo in the far back. He had no doubt that these were 'the two individuals' that Grayson had warned him about. If only that old geezer knew just how problematic the two half-Saiyan's could become, he'd surely crap himself, maybe even twice. With a bit of luck that stick would also be unstuck from his anal cavity.

He would have to figure out the reasons behind Goten's hostile attitude later. About Trunks he had no concerns. The Briefs Boy had obviously known that Gohan would be his teacher, and had then decided that he could always try and play a good joke.

The two of them were at bay for now, but there were still some things to see that a competent teacher would never allow, and therefore Gohan didn't either.

"Goten," said boy looked up. "Please take of your cap."

Goten scoffed. "Why should I?"

"Because," Gohan sighed. "The school has a set amount of rules regarding to dress code. Either you lose the cap, or you can step outside and I'll grade you as low as I can go. That also means that you won't have to be coming back. Now, while that may sound super sweet to you, it also means that you get to flunk the year and give it another try in six months. So, what's it gonna be?"

He was beginning to get irritated himself also. He had managed to push aside the fact that Goten was his brother for the time being; all of the frustration he felt was the anger that always came when students were disobedient. His students always did what he said, always.

"How about this," Goten held his hand out, literally 'weighing the options'. "How about I keep sitting right here, you don't flunk me and I still keep my cap on?"

Gohan smirked despite everything. The kid wanted to play hardball. Let him come and get it.

The teacher rose from his desk, taking along a notepad and a pen. He observed the class briefly, and then returned his gaze to Goten. His stare hardened. A collective chill went through the classroom, and suddenly every pounding heart in the room could be heard.

While Goten may have long since learned to not be afraid of the Demon's Eye, he still shrank back in his seat as Gohan came to tower over him. For a second or two he was once again that little seven-year-old boy that had smashed Mommy's vase, and hid underneath the house's crawlspace to avoid a blistering spanking.

"Now listen, Goten," Gohan never took his eyes away from the teen. "Just because 'Auntie Chi' is your mother, doesn't mean you'll be getting any special treatments. So either you remove that cap right away, or you can march on out that door and stay out. I refuse to work with the hopeless cases." He added just the teensiest bit of bite to the 'Auntie Chi' part, and he was certain he saw a flicker in Goten's eyes, likely of either doubt or guilt, Personally, Gohan hoped for both.

Goten gave him a glare in return, but Gohan never blinked. Finally, Goten grumbled in obvious annoyance, pulled the cap from his head and tossed it across his table. The eye contact lingered for just a little longer. Then Gohan turned away, smiling at the rest of his students, hoping to get rid of the bad atmosphere. His little brother glanced at his best friend, with eyes that lingered just a second longer than the standards of comfort allowed.

The only thing that defused the tension was Trunks's long-stretched "Pfffffff.", a sound like the deflating of a balloon. Yet Gohan heard in them all the words he needed to hear.

_Ouch man, when did your Brother become such a pain?_

* * *

Gohan walked down the entrance hallway of the school, feeling defeated. The scene that had unfolded earlier that morning kept replaying in his head. Why had Goten given him the cold shoulder like that?

The teacher rubbed his temple with his free hand, feeling a headache rise to the surface. He saw no reason for his younger brother to treat him with so much apprehension, disdain even. Goten had looked at him like one might do to a cockroach, before stomping it flat and erasing its existence.

Honestly, Gohan wished he'd gone over to his maternal home over the past few months. In the eyes of a fifteen-year-old, absence was absence, no excuses possible. At least, Gohan thought that _that _was the underlying reason; there wasn't really another logical explanation.

He recognized himself in that line of thinking, though. Once upon a time, his own father had disappeared from the face of the Earth for seven whole years. The man hadn't even bothered to call in, which is weird, regarding the fact that he was always in the company of a deity being. It seemed only reasonable to Gohan then that he felt abandoned, even a little betrayed. Yet, in hindsight, he had learned to look past his hormone-fuelled thought process and see the greater good.

So in theory it all added up. Gohan's textbook knowledge told him that Goten's behaviour was nothing more than the hormonal escapades of a teenage Saiyan. But the teacher found it impossible to ignore his own emotional input ion the issue. What if there _was _an underlying reason to the irritated glares and the casual nonchalance?

Gohan walked past the information booth. Cynthia had already clocked out and left the desk empty. Homing in on home, he put the bad thoughts to the back of his brains; they were concerns for later. Maybe he should call his mother and see if she could shed some light on the problem.

The teacher drew in his breath out of pure habit. For once, he paid no mind to the floor beneath his feet, or the assault on his senses that it usually represented. He wanted nothing more now than get home, hug his daughter and kiss his wife. He walked out of the door towards the parking lot.

"Yeah, so I already hate this P.E. bastard," A voice came from the left. "Thinking he can make me do ten laps. If only he knew I could do ten thousand and still have some time to have a cup of tea before the end of class."

"Don't bullshit me, you hate tea and you know it."

"Fine, I'll go for a hot chocolate then!" the first voice again. "And I'll have some biscuits to go with it. Are you happy now?"

They stood to the left, leaning against the dark green fence that had been put up around the school's premises. Gohan recognized them instantly; it was the duo that every teacher in South City High feared like the possibility of a fatal heart attack. The right one, dark-haired and slightly shorter than his friend, was tossing his cap in one hand, catching it by the flap on front every time it came down again. With the other he held a lit cigarette.

The two looked up, and then fell silent immediately. While his common sense urged him to walk away, Gohan let his emotions lift his feet from the ground. Trunks tried to lean back farther into the gate, as if he hoped he could disappear into it completely, and spend the rest of his days guarding the institute of learning he probably so despised. Goten didn't budge an inch, folding his arms in front of his chest defiantly.

"Hey boys," Gohan quipped, shoulders loose and a feigned smile on his face. "I honestly hope to keep seeing you guys in my classes."

Goten coughed, in an attempt to disguise the words that Gohan made out to "Yeah, as if." The elder Son chose to ignore this.

"Say, Trunks," the teacher said. The purple-haired boy looked up at him. "Great thing you did in class, throwing your voice and all. I hardly recognized you without the hair and that shrill squeaking you always do." Trunks was always in for a good joke, and sure enough, the kid laughed. Gohan felt no hostility from his end, only from the glowering teen beside him.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be fun to mess with ya," Trunks admitted. "Did you like the part about the porn magazines?"

Gohan chuckled. "Yes, I did. It was horribly, inappropriately funny."

"That's what I'm here for."

Suddenly, the second and silent teenager emitted something that sounded more like a growl than anything, a harsh grunt of anger or irritation, or both.

"Will you please cut crap?" Goten snapped, eyebrows pointing down and creasing his forehead. "We all you are the perfectly loveable teacher, you can drop the act now."

At first Gohan could only scoff. "You think this all an act?" he asked in utter disbelief. "Do you honestly believe that this is all for show?"

His little brother said nothing. He merely pulled smoke from his cigarette, blowing it in his sibling's face in an act of childish rebellion.

"Does Mom know?" Gohan pointed at the cancerous stick between the other's fingers. "She'll have a fit when she finds out her little boy is a smoker."

"Why do you even care?" Goten bit at him. "Since when did I become this delinquent that you have to play police over?"

For the entirety of the conversation, Gohan had been suppressing the ever growing tendency the smack his brother across the face. His fingers tingled, simply begging to be curled into a fist and launched with force. Goten would probably only bruise a little anyway, no matter how hard he lunged. Giving them something else to do, the teacher brushed the trembling limbs through his hair, pulling at the roots and laying knots in them. He glanced at Trunks in the hope of finding some form of assistance, but Bulma's son could only raise his shoulders. The look he gave Gohan, however, was one of concern. It seemed he felt the same way about the whole situation; confused and annoyed, even a bit desperate.

Gohan turned back to his partner in this argument. He gnashed his teeth before speaking, looking for the right words.

"Well, perhaps the reason I care…" he nearly breathed the words through gritted teeth. "…is because I am your older brother. Have you ever given that any thought? You do realize that I was the one that changed your diapers and fed you and even sang you to damn sleep, when you weren't even old enough to walk on those stubby stilts of yours?" He stared Goten dead in the eye. "Is it so hard for you to believe that Big Brother's care about their little ones? What do you want me to do, just ignore your existence?"

He was silent for a few seconds, and so was Goten. Gohan could see the wide range of rebuttals milling through the kid's head. When Goten made no reply, but simply flicked it cigarette on the ground and crushed it under his heel, Gohan turned around.

"If you're going to act this way," he said, glancing over his right shoulder. "At least have the common damn decency to stay away from my classroom." And with that he barged away, leaving Goten standing, stupefied and outraged.

* * *

"Damn it!" Goten tossed the controller onto the table in front of him, disregarding it as it fell in between a stack of worn-out magazines and crushed cans of energy drink. He could hardly focus on the video game itself, and the letters that now flashed on the television screen just had to go and point out how much of a failure he was.

Literally all he wanted to do now was go home, lie on his bed and bury his face in his pillow. His mother had never told him much about the school he was supposed to attend, but he had hated the idea of going to an actual institute of education so much that he had hardly listened to any of her words.

Finding his place in the pecking order had been easy enough. During his second day he had been called out by the school bully –he had been told so later on-. Apparently Goten's existence didn't sit right with the guy, so he had decided to teach him a lesson after P.E. class. Sure enough, the idiot had gotten the surprise of a lifetime, and was probably still picking blades of grass from his teeth even now.

It had immediately labelled him as the new kid to watch out for. Nicknames as ridiculous as 'the Black-Haired Menace' had been used to describe him; it was quite amusing, really.

The only good thing that had come from this whole school ordeal was that Bulma had backed the idea one hundred percent. To show her support to the cause, she had decided that it was time for Trunks as well to attend public school. He had protested, screamed and even thrown a tantrum, but his mother wouldn't budge an inch. So on the first day of the New Year Trunks had accompanied Goten to their first class together.

The boy in question was sitting on the old, dusty couch across from the TV, flat on his back with his legs over the armrests and his head nearly in Goten's lap. The whole room around them was the embodiment of irony; the ancient sofa and television set, along with the walls that could definitely use a lick of paint, it created a stark contrast with the rest of the Brief's residence. The family had so much money that not flaunting it was not an option.

"Hey, chill out, man," Trunks said. His eyes never left the nudy magazine he held suspended over his head. When Goten glanced over the cover he was greeted by a pair of out-of-proportion beach ball breasts, attached to a stick thin woman who could have her ribs counted from a distance.

"I wish I could chill out," Goten said, resting a hand on his forehead. "I suppose today is getting to me."

"Well, that whole thing that happened with Gohan," Trunks moved the magazine, so Goten could see his face. He never finished his sentence, but his facial expression exclaimed the perfect level of '_ouch!_'

"I'm not happy with how that turned out either." Goten hoped that Trunks would drop the subject; he had no desire to discuss it any further.

"Why did you act like that to him anyway?" Trunks asked. "It's not like he deserved it."

"Can we please not talk about this?"

"I really think we should."

"Fine..." Goten mumbled. He took the controller back from the table, but didn't do anything with it, he just let it sit there and be useless. "I suppose I am a bit pissed at him." He said, avoiding his friend's eye. "I mean, he's been gone all summer and all of a sudden he's my teacher. A little bit of notice up front would've been nice."

Goten looked down, immediately wishing he hadn't. Trunks had always had the ability to make him uncomfortable by simply looking at him. It was near impossible to turn away when he decided to stare Goten down. All he could do was stare back.

"Liar."

"What?" Goten was at a loss for words.

"You're a liar," Trunks repeated. "There's no way in hell that you're mad at Gohan because of that. You told me yourself that the two of you texted regularly during his time away. So please cut the crap and tell me what's really going on."

There was no use in denying it now; he could never lie to Trunks. His best friend was far too deep into his comfort zone to be fooled. It was almost as if he could smell the fallacy.

"Okay, okay," Goten rubbed his temples. "It has to do with reputation, okay?"

Trunks blinked at him stupidly. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not." And that was the truth, harsh as it may have been. Goten hated everything about his current school situation, and every little thing that could make it better he would grasp with both hands. "I just mean, like, we have another four years to go in this hell hole. Right now our rep is working for us, so we have a chance of making this all _somewhat_ bearable. We can't spoil it by being all friendly with the Literature teacher."

"Goten," Trunks's tone had shifted from questioning to pressing. "You made Wicked Walter eat dirt, how can talking to Gohan like a normal person instead of a dog harm your 'rep' in any way?"

Goten let the remark about dogs slide by; the truth of the statement was too harsh. He found that he'd removed his cap from his head, his fingernails absentmindedly picking at the golden sticker on the bill. It was obvious that Trunks didn't understand him, nor that he would. Some things weren't even safe to share with someone who had transcended that status of 'best friends' over a decade ago.

"You wouldn't understand."

A purple eyebrow went into the air, forming a perfect arch. "Well at least try to explain." Trunks said. "I think you owe me that much, at least."

The younger of the two sighed, tossing the cap aside like a dirty dish rag. Why wouldn't his friend just drop the subject and let him wallow in his self-pity? Yes, he had always told the Briefs Boy everything on his mind, but times changed as much as people did. Being such an open book was taking its toll now, and perhaps it was time to snap it shut and let the outside world see nothing but the cover.

"Maybe I just don't want to be myself anymore," It sounded ridiculous, but it was the only way Goten could put it to words. "Perhaps I'm tired of always being that happy-go-lucky kid who clings to his family like a lifeline."

"So you're saying that you're running into maturity now?" Trunks's tone was slightly unbelieving. "You're going to fly out of the parental nest and spread your wings?"

"No, no," Goten raised his hands in defence. "No, it's not that. But I suppose I just want to be someone else, someone who is not _me._"

"So that's why you turned into Mister Hardass?"

"Yeah, kinda," Goten said, truthfully. "Just think of this: If I don't keep up with this… this alter ego, people will find a way to break down your walls. I'd like to keep them up, thank you."

A moment's silence followed, both boys looking at each other; Trunks trying to get a good reading on his best friend, Goten doing his best to not let his eyes betray his thoughts. Cerulean and onyx matched each other in intensity, but the darkness turned away before the light.

"You have secrets?" Trunks asked eventually.

"Yes," Goten said, almost feeling guilty. "But it's not like you don't have them either."

"Of course I do," Trunks snickered. "But I wasn't talking about us being super-powered half-aliens who make a hobby out of saving the world. I meant other secrets, things you haven't even told me."

Goten remained silent.

"You mean you do?" Trunks's voice went from curious, to outraged.

"Maybe I do," Goten gnashed his teeth and frowned. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, no," the purple-haired boy was taken aback. "No, man, if you want to keep stuff to yourself, that's fine, but it's just that I don't know you this way."

"People change, Trunks." And with that the discussion was at an end. Goten returned to losing his video game, but his mind was absent during it all. Trunks spent some more time leafing through his magazines, occasionally holding a centre fold out for Goten to drool over, but Goten only glanced over them; somehow a naked woman printed on paper didn't exactly rouse his interest.

So here he was, wrapped in his little cocoon of solitude, hoping that neither Trunks nor Gohan would start to chip away at the walls that currently protected him.

If they would break, there would be catastrophe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, here's chapter two for you all, I hope you'll like it. **

**Now please read, review and enjoy!**

* * *

"Daddy, Daddy, can you please fix my Pink Princess Castle? Daddy, please?"

"Yes sweetie, in a minute," Gohan tried his best to detach the small girl clinging onto his calves. "Daddy has to make a call first, but after that I promise I will help you, okay?"

Accompanied by the wailings of his daughter and the beeping, whirring and whizzing of countless children's toys, Gohan battled his way over to the dresser by the television. Perched on top of it was an outdated black telephone, one of the kind with the big horns to put to your ear, and a plastic ring to dial the numbers with.

"Who are you calling, Daddy?" Pan murmured into the fabric of his pants. His little girl was still very much attached to her father, and even at the age of six she would still knock his legs out from underneath him whenever he came home from work. Despite the fact that it could get tiring from time to time, it still made him smile.

"I'm calling Nan Chi-Chi," the teacher offered his kid a sugar sweet smile, somewhat hoping that she would release her death grip already. It took him a strenuous amount of effort to shuffle over to the telephone. For the love of God, she was getting strong already.

"I wanna say hi to Nana Chi, Daddy," Pan piped up happily. The girl climbed her way up to Gohan's midsection. "Can I Daddy, can I?"

Daddy was just busy cramming the telephone horn between his ear and shoulder. "Yes, darling, of course you can." Denying his little girl that privilege would only result in fits of hysterical bawling.

He dialled the number to the Son residence, impatiently tapping his foot on the laminated floor upon hearing the monotonous dial tone. Meanwhile, Pan had effectively hoisted herself up to Gohan's shoulders; her short, stubby legs were around his neck, and he felt her tiny elbows pressing into his coal black hair.

"Hello?" Chi-Chi's voice crackled on the other end of the line. "Who is this?"

"Hey, hello," Gohan made his presence known. "Hey Mom, it's me, Gohan."

"Oh, hi sweetie!" his mother chimed happily. "How was your first week of work, having been sick and all?"

"Actually," Gohan said, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. See—"

"Hi Nana Chi!" Pan cried out. She made a grapple for the telephone horn, snagging herself in the cord from wrist to shoulder. Gohan placed the horn on his little girl's ear. "Hi Nana Chi!" she parroted.

Gohan could hear both sides of the conversation, being this close to the receiver.

"Hi, Pan, my little sweetling!" Chi-Chi chirped back. "Have you been nice to Mommy and Daddy while I was away?"

"Uh-huh," Pan confirmed, "We went to the beach, and there I made a really, really, really big sandcastle! I asked Mommy and Daddy if we could live there, but they said we had to go home." She finished with a small pout.

"Oh, well that's too bad," it came from the other end of the line. "But is it okay if I talk to Daddy now? I think he wants to tell me a few things."

"Okay Nana," Just as Gohan was about to take the telephone horn back, the little girl pressed on. "But don't be too long, okay? Daddy still has to fix my Princess Castle."

Chuckling, Gohan took the horn back and pressed it to his ear. His mother was still giggling also, and Pan made a sport of it to climb back down her father's back at lighting speed, running off to the kitchen. Videl was there and Gohan could already smell delicious aromas wafting through the door that separated it from the living room. Pan really was more her father's child sometimes.

"So honey, you were saying?" Chi-Chi reminded him that he was still on the telephone.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something." Gohan exhaled deeply. "Mom, why didn't you tell me you were sending Goten to public school?"

"Well because you have been so busy for the past few months," Chi-Chi explained over the line. "You had your wife and your child, and a vacation to keep you occupied. I thought you deserved some time off. You work so hard, you know."

His upper lip twitched into a small smile. His mother really was the sweetest. "Okay, I understand that, but don't you think it might have been good to tell me you were sending him to the school where I teach?"

"How so?"

"Well," Gohan was certain Chi-Chi could see him scratching the back of his neck in unease. "How do I put this? When I first saw Goten in class, he acted like he hardly knew me, for one"

"Well that shouldn't be too strange." Mom was being the voice of reason. "It would be a bit hard to make new friends if he's the teacher's pet."

"Yeah. I figured that much, but his behaviour was really out of character." Gohan felt like a bit of a child, having to go to his mother and tell her that his little brother was being a big meanie.

"Oh?" Gohan could hear her tutting her lips. "Well that seems odd. He has been the good old Goten I've always known at home."

Gohan's eyebrows knitted together. So Goten's behaviour didn't stretch beyond the walls of the school.

"You really haven't noticed anything off about him?" he asked to make sure. "No strange things whatsoever?"

"Let me think…" Chi-Chi said. "Well no, not really. He is a bit more silent than usual lately, almost as if he is thinking of something." Gohan took note of this. "But I really don't think it's all that bad. It's probably just puberty making its presence known."

"Yeah, I suppose that's it…"

But was it? The natural transition of becoming a man was something Gohan remembered all too well. It had been an awkward time. His vocal cords betrayed him at every turn, _things _began to grow without notice up front and hair began to sprout in even the most unlikely of places. But he didn't recall a complete turn in personality affecting him. Maybe there was the occasional grumpiness, but his textbook knowledge told him that that was perfectly natural. If only books could help him this time.

According to his mother, Goten spent a lot of his time in his own head, thinking. So, if he would be able to uncover the source, then everything could go back to normal. No more snappy remarks and prissy attitudes. At least, that was the general idea. Starting next school week, Gohan would pay extra mind to whatever could be haunting his little brother.

"Say, why don't you and Videl come over for dinner tomorrow?" his mother's voice dragged him back to reality, and immediately made his heart plunge to his stomach. Dinner at the parents would normally excite him, but the presence of knives and bad tempers were never a good combination.

"Sure, why not," Gohan heard himself saying. It was impossible to say no to his mother, especially if there was food involved.

"Ah, that's fantastic, honey!" Chi-Chi squeaked happily. "I can make us all those roasted pork slices that you all love so much. And you'll see, Goten will be on his best behaviour."

"I don't doubt that, Mom. See you tomorrow." But he wouldn't tell his mother that he had some serious concerns, nor his wife. He would just wait until the following day, and let all of the mayhem wash over him.

Dinner at the parents' house, always a delight.

* * *

Mother, father and child landed in front of the Son residence, the grass beneath their feet blowing in the wind created by their collective energy. Gohan exhaled deeply. He was feeling nervous. Videl squeezed his lower arm in an act of comfort, which actually helped a little bit.

As they approached the front door, Gohan allowed his senses to reach into the space around them for miles. Why he hadn't actually felt Goten and Trunks's presence earlier in the week, he didn't know. Perhaps the peaceful times were getting to him again, and he was letting his guard down. He checked the box by his mental note to actually keep up with his own training some more; it would do wonders for preventing nasty surprises.

And indeed, he could feel Goten's Ki signature, and it felt at ease, at least for now. Both his parents were also present, so it promised to be a busy afternoon.

Pan queried if she could be the one to knock on the door. Gohan nodded his consent, but also reminded his daughter to be very, very careful. He remembered the last time he had forgotten to do that, and for as far as he knew, The Ox King still had a gaping hole the size of a toddler's fist in his front door.

Goku was the one to answer. He opened the door and threw his arms wide open to receive a tackling hug from his granddaughter. The older Saiyan giggled in glee when the little girl nearly crushed his neck to splinters. Gohan found himself looking at his wife and smiling along. Goku and Pan were always on the same wave-length, mostly when food or playing was involved.

"Hiya Gohan!" his father held his hand up as a greeting. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Gohan smirked. "Yeah Dad, it has." He hugged Goku on his way into the house. Videl received the same treatment, and even got a little peck on her cheek, which made her blush. Despite her appearance, Videl could be a girly girl if she wanted to be so.

Probably drawn to all the noise coming from the living room, Chi-Chi came shuffling out of the kitchen. The woman was already wearing a cooking apron, and holding a wooden spoon that dripped with sauce

"Look who it is, my favourite group in the whole world!" she beamed. As per usual, Pan nearly knocked the poor woman off her socks in an attempt to hug her calves. "And hello to you, too, Pan!"

"Heya, Chi-Chi," Videl smiled at her mother in law. Over the years, the two had developed a mental link that was almost as strong as the one Chi-Chi shared with Bulma. While it was great that his wife and mother got along so well, Gohan feared the possibility of the two growing closer as well. They were already almost on the level where they could speak to each other by simply using facial expressions. Think of all the awkward secrets that they could share…

"Hello to you too, Videl." Chi-Chi returned the smile, waving her wooden spoon in the direction of the kitchen. "I could use some help with dinner, would you mind being of assistance?"

"Absolutely not," Videl complied. She gave her husband a quick kiss on his cheek, then retreated into Chi-Chi's Lair. Even before they were out of earshot, Gohan could hear them discussing the new jacket that he had chosen to wear for the occasion. They likely found it horrible.

That left Goku, Gohan and Pan standing in the living room. They were all silent for a while, until a door down the hallway opened, and Goten poked his head around the door.

"Ah, I figured it was you guys," he said, exiting his room. "I was wondering when I got to see my favourite niece again!"

Goten was about the perfect example of a woman during the menopause; it sounded ridiculous in Gohan's head, and it most likely was, but that was still how seemed to him. The apparent mood swings or even the complete change in personality threw him off so bad that his words stayed lodged in his throat. This Goten was completely different from the one that had insulted and degraded him only five days back.

Pan went in for the customary hug, jumping around her uncle's neck. Goten laughed happily as she climbed across his shoulders. Stubby stilts hugged his neck the same way she did with her father. Small hands buried themselves into dark hair, and Pan leaned over to give Goten a quick kiss on the cheek. Goten flashed her a toothy grin, which was happily returned.

Gohan felt his lips curl into a smile. Even if Goten hadn't given up being hostile towards him, it still did his heart good that his brother was mature enough to leave everyone else out of the argument. Goten and Pan were like two peas in a pod, even more so than with Goku. The little girl just couldn't be upset when Uncle Goten was in the same room with her.

An old memory sprung to mind, from a time when Pan was just born. Goten had come over to look at the baby, for like the millionth time that very week. The little guy had been ecstatic to get to know his little niece, and he would grasp every opportunity to be around her, even if only for a minute.

Videl had just put their child to bed when Goten had come over. While both of the parents tried to convince the boy that Pan needed to sleep, Goten wouldn't budge. After a lot of whining, threatening to tell Mother, and some more whining, Gohan had finally allowed his brother to go see Pan.

With his just nine collective years of live experience, Goten had leaned over Pan's crib, a sense of tranquillity on his face that Gohan would only ever see in this setting. The look in his eyes had been so loving, so protective, that Gohan was sure Goten could kill for the sleeping girl. He recognized the exact same look on his brother's face as the one he himself used to look at his family. Seeing that had given him the feeling that their bond was unlike any other.

It was then when Goten had turned to his big brother. "If anyone ever makes Pan sad, you tell me, okay?" his voice was a stern whisper, the perfect one to support his role as protective uncle. "You tell me, and I'll go kick the butt of who did it, okay?"

And Gohan had chuckled at that. "Yes, I'll let you know," he had said. "Whenever Pan is sad, her big, strong uncle can be there to cheer her up."

Gohan was snapped from his musing when he heard a pained yelp, followed by two laughing voices. Pan had managed to slip off of Goten's neck, and apparently the only safety measure that she had been able to think of was to grab hold of her uncle' hair as firmly as possible. Goten did his best to hoist Pan back on his shoulders, but it was only making the situation worse. Pan giggled in glee, and Goku was standing on the side lines, laughing his ass off.

"Say, why don't you guys go to Goten's room and play?" Goku suggested. "I want to talk to Daddy for a bit. Alone."

Goten gave the duo a quizzical expression, and then turned to Pan. "What do you say? Should we go play 'Save the Princess?'"

"Yes!"

And with that, Goten and Pan were gone into another part of the house. Goku nudged his head towards the front door. Gohan followed him outside, and was forced to chase after his father, when the man happily climbed his way to the highest branches of a nearby tree.

"Why did we come here?" Gohan asked when he had finally caught up with his old man. "I mean, why would you send Goten and Pan away if we were going outside anyway?"

Goku shrugged. "I thought it might be best to have those two occupied. That way they wouldn't disturb us."

"Ah, I see." A bit of a silence fell between the two men, but neither experienced it as an awkward one. They both took a minute to enjoy the tranquillity. Gohan inhaled sharply through his nose and revelled in the smells of the trees and plains. Despite being one of the most hailed teachers in one of the best schools in the country, Gohan was still a mountain boy at heart.

"So, how's the family?" Goku was the one to eventually break the ice. He sat leaning back against the trunk of the tree, letting the branches support his weight. Gohan mimicked the action.

"All good," Gohan said, smiling. "Pan is the sweetest thing, but I think you might have noticed that."

Goku chuckled. "I figured that much. She's got the appetite of a champion, too."

"Yeah, she takes after her grandfather."

"Hey, like you can't shovel a meal down."

"Of course I can," Gohan laughed. "But at least I have the decency to chew my food when I eat it."

Goku laughed along with his son. "Your mother always tells me the same. And is everything going alright with Videl as well?"

"Sure is!" Gohan beamed. "We are still very happy with each other, and I wouldn't want to lose her for all the money in the world." He fell silent for a bit, and smiled up at a sky as blue as his wife's eyes.

"And at work?" Goku asked.

Gohan turned to look at his father, whose onyx eyes betrayed serious thoughts. Gohan sighed.

"Mom told you."

"She did," Goku confessed. "But I wanted to talk to you about it anyway."

"What's really there to talk about?"

"Well, you said that Goten's behaviour had been really strange, right?" Goku queried. "What exactly did he do?"

Gohan felt his mood dropping. He didn't like to talk about what happened, but with his father he could never keep a secret. Goku was such an important aspect of his life that hiding fact felt the same as treachery. Not liking the way this conversation was heading, he spoke.

"He acted very hostile towards me, and basically defied me every turn of the way." Still, the worst of it all had been the confusion. "He smart-mouthed me in front of the whole class, and even did so outside of it."

"Hmm," Goku pondered those words for a few seconds, tapping his chin with his index finger. "Well, that doesn't sound like the Goten I know. Maybe he's just trying to act tough in front of his classmates?"

"No, I don't think that's it." It had been one of the first possibilities that Gohan has crossed off his list. Goten had only acted tough as a little boy, and only when he wanted to impress Trunks. Other than that, it was a character trait that Goten lacked entirely. "Besides, he also gave me an attitude in front of the school itself, and there was nobody around then, aside from Trunks."

Neither of the two men said anything for a while, when Gohan suddenly remembered the conversation he had had with Chi-Chi over the telephone. "Say Dad, Mom told me Goten had been a bit silent and introvert these days, is that right?"

'Well I don't know what 'introvert' means, but yes, Goten has been a bit quiet lately." Goku said, recalling the past few weeks.

"'Introvert' means that you keep your thoughts to yourself a lot." Gohan explained.

"Well then yes, Goten is being introvert as well." Goku said. "But I don't think it's all that bad, Gohan. Your mother says that it might be puberty."

"Yeah, I also considered that, but I'm not too sure about it." Gohan was at a loss for words. He had hoped that his father might have been able to shed some light on a bad situation, but essentially all that he had done was raise more questions. Gohan felt a headache come up again, and suddenly craved for his mother's cooking. He was about to jump from the branch to the grass below, when he heard his father chuckling deeply.

"What's the matter, Dad?" Gohan asked, his eyebrows raised.

"I just remembered something," Goku said, and a smile grew wide on his face. "Do you recall the days before the Cell Games very well?"

This didn't help take away Gohan's confusion, but as he did actually remember those days, he nodded.

"Okay, so do you still know that girl you saved? Help me. what was her name again?"

"Lime," Gohan immediately answered, "Her name was Lime."

"Yes, that's the one! Anyway, the day after we came back from the village she lived in, you didn't speak to anyone about anything. All you did was train for the fight with Cell and look gloomy."

"Really?" Gohan remembered being a bit sullen after having to leave the village, but it was only because he had made a friend his own age for a change. Or at least, that was what he believed was the reason.

"Yeah, and when you were training you were seriously tiring yourself out." Goku recalled. "We even ended up having to bring you to Dende, 'because you had knocked yourself out with your own Kamehameha wave."

"I'm afraid I don't remember that, Dad." Gohan confessed. And it was true; he really didn't have the vaguest idea of that ever happening. All he knew was that he had trained, so it added up that much, but he had no memories of acting suicidal.

"Well, maybe it's _because_ you knocked yourself out with your own Kamehameha wave that you don't remember it," Goku pointed out. "But either way, once we got you all good and patched up, Piccolo asked you a question. It was "Who are you trying to prove something?""

Gohan listened in silence, and nodded for his father to continue.

"You answer was "Nobody"," Goku explained. "But when you said that, your face grew all red. When I pointed that out for you, you grew even redder and bolted right off the Lookout."

Somehow Gohan didn't doubt his father's words. Goku wasn't a liar, and he never would be. This perfectly explained why those specific nine days all seemed so similar, apart from a detail or two.

"So what you are saying is that I had a crush on Lime."

"And not just a little bit," Goku laughed.

"But what does that have to do with this?"

"Gosh, and they say I am the dense one," Goku joked. "Listen carefully. Who do we know is very silent and gloomy, refuses to speak about what is bothering him, and acts tough to impress others? Does it ring any bells?"

Gohan could've smacked himself. "You think Goten has a crush?!"

"It certainly looks like it," Goku chuckled. Being naïve was somewhat of a family trait, so anything along the lines of 'crushes', flings' and anything love related were subjects they found hard to get a grasp on. "Do you know anyone at school that might have set this off?"

Gohan really had to think that one through. He supposed that some of the girls in Goten's class might have been pretty on a superficial level, and there were even a few girls that were great to start a conversation with. If his little brother was showing this amount of childish rebellion, it was actually plausible that a possible love interest was the cause of it all.

"I suppose I do," Gohan said. "But it could be a lot of girls at the school I teach. Do you think Goten would have a preference?"

Goku laughed loudly at this. "I think he does, Son, I think he does." Gohan was then left to question these words as Goku jumped from the tree, landing on the grass on his tip-toes, and entering the house.

Dinner was very much the normal occasion it always had been. Gohan, Goku, Goten and Pan dug into their food like it was their last meal, and Videl and Chi-Chi chatted a bit over the noises of dinner being devoured. Goten didn't show any sign of hostility towards Gohan for the entirety of the day. This left the teacher wondering how the next Literature class would develop coming Monday. If what his Dad had told him was true, and Goten did indeed have a crush on a girl, it might get heated again.

He preferred not to think about this as he ate the roasted pork slices that his mother and wife had prepared. He was just going to have to wait and see.

* * *

"Videl, have you seen my car keys?"

"Weren't they on the dresser yesterday night?"

And they were. He simply must've looked over them the first three times he checked there. Gohan fished them into his palm as his other hand worked to straighten his necktie. He had opted for a deep hue of red this morning.

His wife marched into the living room, walking on her tip-toes to avoid waking the sleeping child one floor above them. Pan had caught somewhat of a fever, and would be staying home from school today.

"Hey there, Mr. Teacher," Videl giggled, waving her spatula at him. Chi-Chi had infected the young woman with a strong desire to cook constantly, it seemed. Whenever she was not working (Videl had a job as a legal attorney, and even did the occasional ass kicking for the local police force during the weekend) she would be dancing around their kitchen, filling the whole house with aromas that made Gohan's stomach rumble as a reflex.

"If it isn't my beautiful kitchen princess," Gohan chuckled, and then wrapped two strong arms around the woman he was lucky enough to spend his life with. He kissed the top of her beautiful head, relishing the smell of her strawberry scented shampoo.

"Why do you always have to get to work so early?" Videl breathed her question into his chest. "You don't have to start until second period, so what's the rush?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know. To showcase my professional attitude, I suppose."

"And they didn't take you for a professional when your whole graduate class had scores two points above the national average?"

He laughed at that. "Maybe. I guess I'm just a freak on timing. Besides, there aren't a lot of reasons for me to stick around so early in the morning. I mean, Pan is completely your kid before noon, you know that."

"Maybe I can think of a reason or two," Videl whispered. She pulled him by his necktie (and he didn't even worry about creasing it as she did so), and brought her lips to his. Gohan chuckled, more out of surprise than anything, but returned the kiss nonetheless. Even after over eight years together, every kiss was still as fantastic and mind-numbing as the first.

Videl was the one to pull back. She smiled at her husband, slender fingers toying with his hair. "So, are you sure you want to be at school so early?" She giggled and stepped away from him, tossing her apron, spatula and shoes into a random corner of the room.

Gohan watched as his wife laid herself down in the couch. She stretched her arms above her head and stared at him lovingly. She blinked at him slowly, concealing the deep pools of blue that could mesmerize him endlessly.

"Well… I suppose I could be a little later today, I'm sure they wouldn't miss me…"

* * *

Today would be a great day, he could just feel it! The romantic rendezvous with the misses had put an extra zip in Gohan's step, and it wasn't at all surprising that he found himself sitting behind his desk, humming a jolly tune as he sifted through some papers and student files. Class would commence in a minute or two, but he still had the time to put some of his administration in order.

Delighted with how the day had begun, Gohan was quite certain he could handle his upcoming class. He still had an irking feeling that it could all end very ugly, but somehow making love to his wife had cleared most of the worries from his mind. It was true what they said; orgasms were a lot more effective than therapy. And, in most cases, a lot cheaper as well.

Today, Gohan would be discussing authors with his class. He had already decided that with this particular set of students, patience was golden. They would be reluctant to read anything he threw their way, until he knew exactly what their interests where. He had found that if he could precisely pinpoint his pupils' reading interests, he could recommend them a book to read. This was almost always met with positive review.

Slowly students began to trickle in the room, taking their seats and emptying the contents of their book bags on the table. Lisa was one of the girls present, and she sat in her chair, fidgeting with her fingernails and looking at Gohan through long, heavily made up eyelashes.

The teacher decided to let this slide by; having a student swoon over him was the least of his concerns right now. For the moment being, his main focus was on trying to get through these sixty minutes without getting the tendency to punch someone.

It was in no way a surprise that the Twins of Terror were the last to enter the class. Gohan had to suppress a sigh when they took their seats. At least Trunks had the common decency to actually turn his attention to where it was due. He couldn't say the same for Goten. Said boy was reclining back in his chair, with the backrest leaning into the far wall.

Gohan narrowed his eyes, and Goten picked up on this. Goten quickly put his chair back on all fours, but not without a glare that could chill the bone. Finally free to start his lesson, Gohan turned to his class and smiled.

"Writers," he said. "Are a weird bunch of people. That's likely the best way to describe them in my opinion. They look just like us on the outside, but somewhere within they are brewing with imagination." He reached into his suitcase and pulled out a pocket novel, some uninteresting whodunit his wife had bought him for his birthday. He held it up for the class to see.

"Out of those strange, awkward, and sometimes downright crazy brain waves, books like the one I have here are formed. Some of the stories are touching, others so romantic and sweet they'll make your teeth rot. There is a story for everybody, and I mean that when I say it.

"Last week we discussed genres. This week, I would like to use the hour to discuss some of the most peculiar people in the world, namely authors. When looking for new material to read, browsing the library shelves by author might be a really wise decision to make. Why is that, Monique?"

Monique was on point as usual. "Because a lot of writers stick to the same genre, so the reader knows what to expect?"

"Exactly!" Gohan gave her a smile of praise. "Modern writers tend to dabble in the same type of storytelling for the entire length of their careers. This could be because they are afraid to lose their fan base, or they just don't know how to write anything else. With that in mind, you could easily pick up a book by Lisa Jackson and expect it to be some mediocre crime thriller." He tapped the cover of his novel for good measure.

"Most writers do not have a career to boast about," he continued. "They might publish a book or two, but after that they go down the drain, and are forced to write terrible columns for the local news rag. Others, however, withstand the test of time and rise to greatness. Even to this day, everybody knows who William Shakespeare was."

The class gave a microscopically small nod. Gohan sighed in relief. At least they weren't completely illiterate.

"Just out of curiosity, who would you consider a literary genius of our own day and age?"

Lisa's hand was in the air so fast that she almost knocked off the glasses of the poor boy sitting next to her. "Stephenie Meyer, sir."

"Close, but no cigar!" Gohan said without missing a heartbeat. "Miss Meyer isn't exactly a literary genius. And, before you get offended, I say that because a love story between a Mary Sue and a vampire that sparkles in the sun is in no way literature."

"Excuse me, sir," Lisa piped up. "But what exactly is a Mary Sue?"

Gohan was about to answer that, when somebody did it for him. "A Mary Sue is female a character that is completely perfect. She has no doubts about herself, is described as beautiful, and is overall just a completely boring twat."

In the far corner of the classroom, Goten said with his arms across each other, a smirk of satisfaction plastered onto his face. Gohan would not be surprised if his own eyebrows were brushing the ceiling. He noticed the same expression on Trunks's face also.

"Very good, Goten," he complimented out of pure habit. "Although next time I would for one appreciate it if you would raise your hand before speaking. Also, can you please mind your language a bit?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Goten grinned at his brother, rubbing his neck in a fashion all too familiar to anyone that bore 'Son' as a last name.

So the kid had actually gone and read through some of the theory in his textbooks. Gohan wasn't impressed by this, and decided to pry a little longer, to see if Goten could actually amount to something during his classes.

"Well Goten, now that I am talking to you anyway, who would you consider a genius of the pen and ink?"

"Stephen King," his little brother answered rapidly.

Gohan suppressed the urge to sigh. Of course he had to name the writer that could be found on every random side table in Gohan's house.

"And why would you pick him specifically?"

"Because he is one of the biggest names in the business, obviously," Goten said this as if he was stating tomorrow's weather report. "I mean, the man has written over, what was it, fifty novels since his first published work? Also, back in the nineteen eighties he was already a master of the macabre. I read the Shining and it made me want to shower after reading two pages. Yet that's not the only thing he can do. Anyone who has either read the Green Mile or has seen the film knows that King can also make you reach for the tissues."

Gohan was baffled. That explanation actually made sense. He was now unsure if he should be amazed at Goten's intellect when it came to reading, or if he should feel ashamed for grossly underestimating him in the first place. More so, why would he act up the way he did last week, when now he was the picture perfect example of an honorary student? Maybe it was just to mess with his brother. That glare at the beginning of class didn't exactly point towards the cooling of tempers.

"Well I have to say that I'm impressed," Gohan admitted. "I might even say that I'm surprised. Whenever I came over to Auntie Chi, you were always doing anything but reading. What happened?"

"Remember how you were always reading those Dean Koontz pocket books wherever you went?" Goten played the game along perfectly. "You left a few scattered around our house over the years, and one day I just got really bored. And that's about it."

Gohan analysed these words carefully. He knew for a fact that the two of them had shared a _lot _over the years, but they had also kept things to themselves. A sorrowful feeling was starting to eat at his insides; apparently he didn't know as much about Goten as he thought he did.

There was a knock on the classroom door. It went open and Mr. Grayson shuffled inside on old and withered feet. "Mr. Son, could I please have a word with you?"

"Of course, Mr. Grayson," Gohan complied. He threw his class a look that gave them all the instruction that they needed: "Asses on the chairs and mouths shut." Then he followed the principal outside of the classroom.

Mr. Grayson immediately reverted back to his old self. How a man with such a deep hatred towards children was still in his employment, one was left to wonder.

"Son, I have discussed a very serious matter with several of the teaching staff, and since you are directly involved, I feel that you should have a say in the matter as well." Gohan would've almost believed that the man was trying to show his ability to be sympathetic, strange as it were. However, what he heard next set his mind straight.

"It regards the behaviour of two students sitting in that very classroom right now," Grayson was hesitating. "I'm talking of course, about your little brother and his purple-haired companion."

"Yes, Goten and Trunks, what about them?"

"We, and with that I mean me and your teaching colleagues, think it might be best to have them transferred to a different location for this school," the principal raised himself up, as if to show that he would not take 'no' for an answer. "There they will be treated amongst their peers. It is a location specifically for children with behavioural problems. We think they might thrive best there."

Suddenly there was that urge again, that incredibly strong need to just hit something. Aiming at that big, blemished nose above that hideous pencil moustache would be a fantastic way to start. Yet, Gohan bottled up his anger and feigned a smile.

"So if you have already decided that you want them transferred, why are you still asking me?"

"Because decisions like these, they have to be made unanimously by all of those involved."

"Well then I have some bad news for you and my co-workers," Gohan kept his face stone cold. "I am planning on riding this year out with those two in my class. I feel like they will be a lot of work, but they can really turn around if they try."

Grayson scrunched his nose the way someone does when they smell rotten eggs and corpses. "Are you prepared to make that choice, Son? Your colleagues will hate you for it, no doubt."

"The opinion of my colleagues is hardly worth anything in this case," Gohan nearly bit the words at the man. "I value what my students think of me a lot more than what some cheap skate with a sheet of paper has to say." He exhaled sharply through his nostrils.

Mr. Grayson was taken aback by this. His grey eyes were wide and startled. "If that is really what you think, Son, then I hope that you will be able to shoulder the burden and carry the responsibility." And with that the man was off, without a single glance over his shoulder.

Gohan had to take a few seconds to just breathe.

He completely understood why his colleagues would think the way they thought, and he didn't blame them for it. Even so, hearing those words from Grayson had left him seething. He was now absolutely hell bent on working out this predicament. He would make Goten and Trunks into the finest students there were, even if he had to chop off his right arm to do so.

Now it was personal.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! I got chapter 3 done a bit sooner than I anticipated, but I don't think you guys'll mind. Somewhere next week I'll update, and that'll be the final chapter already *audience goes 'awwww'*. This will likely be the shortest chapter though, but not by far the worst ;)**

**Now please read, review and enjoy!**

* * *

Water hissed as it hit white tiles, evaporating into hot steam and turning the locker room clammy and warm. Voices came from all around him, chatting one another up with stories of the previous weekend and lies of girls they hadn't truly been with. The boys in Goten's class had a habit of exaggerating like that; it was a pattern he had noticed as of the second week of term. Something about prancing about bare naked made men went to talk about sex and anything related to it, it seemed.

Goten himself was not sharing the mood, at all. He sat on one of the cold steel benches, still dressed and his bag in his lap. Dark irises stared at nothing in particular. His mind was where things were really working busily, and he wasn't enjoying it in the least.

He was unsure of how to feel about anything at all right now. For some strange, incomprehensible reason he had completely shifted attitudes towards Gohan. Yes, he had still glared away during the entire course of an hour, and he would probably still give his older brother sass if they were to meet one-on-one, but it turned out that he did not want to act that way during the lessons themselves. Thinking about it deeper, the teenager realized that it was simply inhumane to disrespect Gohan like that in front of a thirty person crowd. He could feel his own pride ache at the thought of the roles being reversed. That must've been what had caused the sudden shift in behaviour.

Although, he still could not vouch for what would happen if they came across each other in a more personal and intimate setting. He had dropped most of the 'I have to save my reputation' line of thinking, but his mindset of seven days prior was no excuse to bark at Gohan the way he had done in front of Trunks.

He hated being so self-aware. He had always been good at pinpointing just what bothered him and why he would respond in a certain manner. This was the case here also. He was simply taking out his feelings on Gohan, because his own confusion was so goddamn infuriating.

Somewhere in the distance showers turned off. The voices rose without the sound of streaming water to muffle them. Goten didn't watch any of the boys as they excited the showering stalls, some with towels wrapped around their waists, others letting it all hang out proud and free. Many of them were laughing at the terrible jokes of some guy the size of a small minivan.

"Goten, hey." Said boy looked up and found blue eyes. Trunks was laughing at him sheepishly. "Hey man, cheer up! I know you've got a lot on your mind, but at least try and smile a little bit. I hate to see you like this." A hand went to the back of his neck, perfect evidence that Trunks had spent more hours around the Son family than he dared to count.

Goten avoided his look. This forced him to sit and stare at the map of scars that was Trunks's belly. One of the more timid boys in his class had dared to ask him why he didn't shower along with the rest of the guys in their class. The kid himself had reason to believe that Goten bore some disfiguring scar that he didn't want to show, but that was ridiculous. He wasn't any worse of a looker than Trunks in that field.

"Aww, aren't they a lovely couple?" Both Goten and Trunks turned towards the sound. The broad boy that had been telling jokes was standing near them, his arms crossed and a smirk spread across his flabby face. Goten immediately felt the urge to beat if off with as much force as he could muster.

"Say, what's with the sweet words, Purple Pansy?" The fat boy, known by most as Big D, extended a stubby arm and pointed at Goten condescendingly. "Is the misses having a rough day?"

"Shut up, you tub of lard," Goten bit at him. "Do you want me to smack that smile off that meatball face?"

"Oh, look who's feeling frisky this fine afternoon!" D's tone was mocking in every sense of the word. "But be careful what you say, because I just might have to hurt you if you don't."

"What were you planning on doing, sitting on me and crushing my bones?"

It was D's turn to turn red in the face. He was about to retort, but then he probably realized that their little show was gathering a crowd. Chad was one of the spectators. The goth kid shuffled over to D and whispered to him. "Hey, Big D, don't you think it's a bit stupid to start poking the Black-Haired menace like that?"

"Pffffft," D made a sound like the deflating of a balloon. "Please," he hollered, loud enough for the whole room to hear. "I saw what he did to Walter. He just tripped him, and that was it. This little shit here is hardly worthy of his nickname."

Goten dropped his bag to the floor.

"And another thing!" D was getting fired up, and was still talking far too much. "How come you don't shower with the rest of us, like a normal human being? Are you afraid that we'll laugh at your tiny little dick?"

Goten balled his fists.

"Yeah, that must be it. That probably why the two of you –he motioned to Goten and Trunks both- are so close together. You're both part of the Tiny Willy Association."

Goten rolled up his sleeves, taking his time to do so. One more derogatory term and this guy's face would soon be very familiar with the inside of a locker.

"Oh, no wait! I know what this is about! You simply want to shower when everyone is gone, so you can have the place to yourself. That way nobody can walk in on you when you're jerking off, thinking about Purple Pansy here."

Goten rose from the bench, but before he could take even a single step, Trunks turned on his heels and wailed on D, catching him in the left cheek with his fist. It made a very peculiar sound that reminded Goten of chicken filet being thrown onto a cutting board.

Trunks took three huge steps, losing the towel that guarded his privates. Just like that he was in front of D, who had fallen with his back onto a locker. He looked absolutely terrified, and had every right to be.

"Now Tubby, why don't you listen up," Trunks was the epitome of calmness, it seemed. "How about you shut the fuck up, not just for now, but forever, okay? You would do the world a big favour if you ask me."

Suddenly his eyebrows dropped and his stare became ice cold. "Another thing I want you to do is leave my best friend alone from now on. It's not exactly kind to talk about people that way, but I think you know that, don't you?" Trunks smirked. "Do you think I can punch hard? Well, you must do, otherwise you wouldn't look at me like I'm Frankenstein. But either way, do you see these?" He pointed at the scribbles and lines that covered his belly, chest, arms, legs and even a part of his neck. They looked like the random squiggles you got when you gave a 2 year old a pencil and paper.

D gave a microscopically small nod.

"Well what if I told you that that guy," he motioned to Goten. "is responsible for easily over half of those? I'm not kidding; we used to be regular sparring partners back on the day. You should've seen how many times Goten beat me to a bloody pulp."

D let his eyes go from Trunks, to Goten, and then back to Trunks again. He had long since decided that silence was golden.

"Point number three," Trunks began to laugh. "You don't know what I've got." Upon D's confusion he explained. "Any idiot with a little bit of common sense would know that a fat ass like yourself would have nothing to show for between the legs. To take your frustration over your little cock out on me and Goten is just mean. Like I said, you don't know what I've got hidden beneath my towel."

And then came the realization that, yes, D could, in fact, see exactly what he was normally hiding beneath his towel. Trunks didn't make any attempt to hide or cover up. He simply chuckled.

"Well, it seems like you do know now. At least now you have a proper reason to be jealous of me. I can't speak for Goten, but I take it that he's got a lot more to show for than you do, with that little pinhead trying to fight its way to light from in between the jelly."

Trunks turned away, but not before stating "Next time I'll aim for the right."

Goten had in the meantime observed the whole scenario, and he simply had no words for it. All that left him was "Thanks, Trunks, but you shouldn't have done that."

"Yeah yeah, blah blah," Trunks waved it off. "You can fend for yourself, you're a big boy. I know that. But hey, don't I deserve my time in the spotlight too?"

Goten had since turned red in the face, and it was getting worse. "Well I hope that spotlight isn't on you right now. That way the whole world could see what you brag about to your classmates." He said, pointing at Trunks's exposed lower body.

When Trunks made to cover himself up, Goten already had his thoughts elsewhere.

Ten minutes later, he suddenly found himself standing underneath a searing hot shower, naked and soaking wet. His hair stuck to his forehead. His head was pressed against the back wall, which was cool and helped him think.

If he didn't make amends at for himself, the whole ordeal with Gohan would start gnawing at him even more than it already did. He was afraid to take the first step, terrified even, but why he couldn't tell, not this time. Basically he was left with two choices. Either he would clean the mess up that he had made, and he would be able to at least sleep peacefully over some of the matters that plagued him, or he could simply wallow in his self-pity, and not get around to dealing with his other problems.

It all sounded so simple. If only it were.

* * *

He was going to throw that clock out. No, not throw it out, he was going to rip it off the nail it was hanging from and hurl it against the wall; that ticking noise was driving him insane.

By now it was Wednesday, although it still felt like Monday to Gohan. Grayson had not been wrong when he said that Gohan's colleagues were likely to turn against him. For the past two days he had gotten nothing but dirty looks and whispers behind his back. As if that wasn't worrisome enough, it had so turned out that Goten had been skipping two whole days of school. Grayson had merely shrugged at hearing this, and wrote it off as 'just another case of hopelessness'. A good mental breakdown would seem like sweet bliss now.

Gohan had been meaning to grade a pop quiz that he had given to one of his senior classes, but he simply couldn't keep his mind on the task. Every time he would try and decipher some squiggly lines that were meant to be words, a demon would creep into his conscious in the form of his little brother. It was simply infuriating.

Something else was the matter with Goten that he did not know yet. His father's explanation had been very insightful, but Gohan refused to believe that Goten would skip school simply because he was afraid to face a crush he might be having on a girl. This had to do with something a lot deeper, probably about Goten himself. It was most likely a problem he had in his own brains, without disturbing factors from the outside world. Like before, Gohan was able to see himself in this line of thinking. During his teenage years he had had a lot of issues with himself as well. During that time, he preferred to stay away from people in general.

His forehead found his desk and made contact. If only he could just pry open Goten's brains and see what was bothering the kid. It would save everyone a whole lot of trouble for sure.

There was a knock on the door, and Gohan raised his head, giving the person on the other side permission to enter. It was Trunks.

"Hey, Gohan."

"Hey."

The boy walked to his teacher's desk, dropped his bag down and sat. There was a bit of a silence, but Gohan didn't mind it. The expression on Trunks's face was less than happy, so Gohan already had a vague idea what he wanted to talk about. When the Briefs boy still made no comment, Gohan got up and excused himself, for he would be getting the two of them something warm to drink.

When he came back, Trunks had barely moved. All he did was stare at the scratches in Gohan's desk, as if they could help him unveil the secrets of life and existence. Gohan joined him in his silence, handing the boy a cup of warm chocolate milk.

"You know why I am here, don't you?" Trunks eventually said, the Styrofoam cup clasped between two hands. Gohan nodded. "Well, I thought that if I told you what I know, we could figure this out together."

Gohan decided to ask for certainty. "Figure what out together?"

"What the fuck is wrong with Goten!" Trunks immediately clapped his hand to his mouth. Gohan waved it away. "I mean, he's been acting so incredibly weird lately, and he just won't tell me what's wrong!"

"Okay," Gohan had hoped that Trunks would've been able to enlighten him on the situation, but he knew that his hope had been idle. "Well, just tell me what you do know then."

Trunks exhaled sharply and brushed his bangs from his face. "Okay, so first things first. Just before the start of term, Goten started picking up smoking. I didn't really say much about it, 'cause Goten needs to make his own choices in life, but it still concerned me a lot."

Gohan listened attentively to every word.

"Then came that stupid snapback," When noting Gohan's confusion, he explained. "His cap. Suddenly it was there and there was no way in hell it was coming off. He wouldn't even take it off for our sparring sessions, so we haven't done that in a whole month."

"Okay, and did he start acting hostile or anything?" Gohan asked. "Like the way he acted towards me?"

"No, not really," Trunks said, thinking deeply. "At least not at first." The boys sighed and squeezed his cup tightly, as if the hot chocolate was able to warm his hands through the flimsy material. "I never felt like he was in any way aggressive, but he's not being Goten either."

Gohan took a swallow of beverage himself as well, hoping that his continued silence would get Trunks to speak more. But he didn't.

"So how would you describe his behaviour in general?" Gohan eventually raised the question. "Is he a completely different person, or does he only act strange in a certain setting?"

"Well…" Trunks was straining himself to put together a coherent explanation. "He's still like Goten, but something seems to worry him a lot. He can still be cheery and happy and all of that, but as soon as I try to discuss school, he shuts down like this." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

It was quite a sad picture, really; a young boy sitting at his teacher's desk, distraught and confused. His best friend is shutting him out and no one seems to care. It was a perfect plot for an angsty teenager novel. Lisa would've loved to read it.

Gohan doubted on how to approach Trunks. Neither of them had really been much of a hugger, and anybody passing by the classroom would definitely raise some questions on why Gohan was being intimate with a student. He wouldn't be the first teacher to mistakenly be branded a kiddy fiddler.

So instead he just crossed Trunks's gaze. Blue eyes looked at him with a fatigue he knew all too well; it seemed to be a hereditary thing, and it stretched further than just those who bore the last name Son. Gohan tried to send as much understanding as he could solely through his irises. Looks could be as concrete as words.

"Do you have a theory?" Trunks eventually spoke again, right after gulping half of his hot chocolate down in one go. "I mean, you catch on a lot quicker than I do, so I was wondering what you were thinking."

Now it was Gohan's turn to sigh. He pressed a hand to his forehead. The other worked to loosen his tie. With the constricting garment out of the way, his head felt clear enough to think properly.

"Maybe I do, but I'm not sure at all," Gohan said. Trunks adjusted himself on his seat, turning to face the elder Son as much as possible. "It's a bit embarrassing for me though…" And it was. Gohan would never be the type of person to take his little brother out to the bar for his eighteenth birthday, getting smashed over talks of sex and girls. Family time with the Sons was mostly spent with fists, not words.

"Gohan," Trunks gave him a look that spelled serious all over. "Two days ago I punched a bully down while naked. If I can do that, I think you'll be able to say a few simple words."

Thinking it best not to question that statement, Gohan explained, "I think Goten might have a crush on someone."

Trunks blinked twice, mumbling the word 'crush' to himself under his breath. "So you think that a girl is causing all of this?" Once again, Trunks was a lot like his friends in this regard. He might've been a bit more outspoken about his sexual preference, but anything that dealt with love and relationships was something that he hardly ever discussed. It was one of the perks of having Vegeta as a father; a hereditary mental block.

Gohan shrugged. "I can't say so for sure, but my Dad was a great help in figuring it out. Does it make sense to you?"

"Yes it does!" Trunks almost shouted now. He rose from his chair with his hands on Gohan's desk. Suddenly his eyes screamed for joy and relief. "I knew a piece of the puzzle was missing!"

"Okay, so any idea who we're talking about here?"

"Hmm, not really," Trunks confessed. "But when I showed him some of my, uhm, magazines -sorry about that- he didn't even look at them."

Gohan was smirking now. "Well then she must be some special girl!"

"I'll say, I always thought I had a great taste in porn."

"Trunks…"

"Oops…" Trunks laughed and scratched his neck. "I forgot I was talking to my teacher there."

Gohan waved it off. "Never mind. But this would really explain a lot. Why Goten is acting so big and tough all the time, for example."

Trunks considered this. "It might be," He nodded as if to confirm it for himself. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it. It's like we're kids all over again." Upon seeing Gohan's raised eyebrows, he explained. "He always used to act so tough when we were younger, especially around the time with Buu. I know he tried to oustage me. I can totally see him playing the hardass to impress a girl."

And then it all clicked

Gohan began to smile. He rose from his seat and threw his empty cup over his shoulder; there was no need to look as he knew it would fall in the trashcan flawlessly. Trunks gave him a quizzical look.

"I think you just helped me solve this," Gohan said, his smile still growing.

"Care to explain?" A purple eyebrow curved into a perfect arch.

"Sorry kiddo," Gohan told him. "I think Goten should be the one to tell you that himself."

"And you think that you can help him get his head out of his ass?"

"Oh yeah, now I do." His eyes were as confident as his grin.

"Well then please hurry," Trunks bit down on his lower lip. "I want just want my friend back."

* * *

"And of course, Hercule Satan was present at today's joyous celebration to commemorate the day, fifteen years ago, that he became the Savior for all of huma-"

Videl clicked the television off. The stove was calling her name, and her fingers were itching to get to work. She blamed Chi-Chi for this; before meeting her mother in law, Videl didn't have the vaguest clue how to turn on the garbage disposal, let alone cook a three course meal. It came with its perks though; they always said that a man's love runs through his stomach, and she had proven this time and time again. _A happy husband is a horny husband… _She giggled at her own dirty thoughts.

Videl threw on her favourite apron, one gifted to her by Chi-Chi several birthdays ago. It could hold all the utensils she might need during her labouring work in the kitchen, but her favourite thing about it was the look that Gohan gave her whenever he saw her in it. His eyes would always go so soft and endearing, and that totally stroked her ego.

She did a quick check-in on Pan before cracking down. The little girl was still somewhat feverish, but she was improving at least. She would be good to go back to school on Monday at this rate. Her perfect angel was sleeping peacefully when Videl entered her room, lying on her side with a thumb tucked into the corner of her mouth. Mommy couldn't resist pressing a soft kiss to Pan's forehead. She was just so beautiful when she wasn't destroying everything in sight; it made her heart melt.

Today's serving would be lasagne, and a whole lot of it. Within minutes, the kitchen was beginning to smell more than just a little delicious. The finely cut beef had just been roasted, and Videl was busy dumping several pounds of vegetables into four different pans. She had gone over to the neighbours earlier that morning, inquiring for an extra baking dish. Feeding hungry Saiyans was hard labour.

Just as Videl brushed her bangs from her face, she felt a power level approaching rapidly. It didn't concern her though; there were only a few people with this amount of power around the word, even if they did suppress it as much as they did. It was most likely Gohan, off from work earlier than expected. Videl wondered for a second why he was moving this fast, but her logical sense of reasoning told her that he must've been having car problems again, and had instead opted to fly home. They really had to get a new vehicle already.

Videl smiled when she put the three baking dishes in the oven. Gohan had just landed in front of the apartment; she could feel it. Just the smell of dinner cooking would be driving him insane right about now. Videl closed the door to the oven and leaned against the counter, grinning and ready to receive her husband with a nice 'welcome home' kiss. With Pan's sickness, today had been a slow day, and she could use some company.

There was a knock on the door. Videl scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. Had Gohan forgotten his keys at work? She straightened out the creases in her apron before heading for the front door. She didn't exactly expect the person on the other side.

"Hey." Goten was standing in front of her, his eyes glued to his feet and a hand in his hair. The poor kid looked more than just a little distraught.

"Hey Goten," Videl said, leaning against the doorframe. "What's the matter?"

The kid still didn't look at her. "I was hoping Gohan was in, but I don't feel his energy. I reckon he's still at work."

"Yes he is," Videl raised an eyebrow. "Goten, is there something wrong?"

Goten shuffled his feet, clearly uncertain whether to speak his mind or not. "No, it's nothing serious. I just wanted to talk to Gohan for a minute. We've been having somewhat of a disagreement."

Videl took a minute to observe her little brother. Sure, he was officially an 'in-law', but she never saw him that way. Goten was as much her little sibling as Chi-Chi was her actual mother and best friend. His attire didn't exactly spell 'Goten', though. The boy's more leisure clothing usually consisted of jeans and a simple t-shirt. Chi-Chi would have a fit if she saw how low his pants were dragging across the floor.

"Okay…" Videl said, taking Goten's words in. "How about you come inside for a minute? Gohan should be done with work any minute now, so he should be home in fifteen minutes or so. You can wait inside if you want."

"Eh, no thanks, Videl," Goten denied her offer politely. "I think Mom wants me home anyway, so I'll just drop by later..."

"Aww, that's too bad," Videl laughed. "That means that I have to finish all of these chocolate cookies I baked all by myself." Of course it worked like a charm. Goten was about to turn around and leave, but halted. Food, a Saiyan's Kryptonite.

"I suppose I can stay for a little bit…"

Ten minutes later, both were seated at the kitchen table, a plate of cookies between them and an awkward silence hovering over them both. Goten nibbled at one of the snacks, but didn't seem to register the taste of it. It saddened Videl a lot; she had hardly known Goten as anything other than a hyper enthusiastic kid who always had energy for three. She didn't _want _to meddle, but thanks to that damn maternal instinct of hers, she felt like she had to. Sad children were her Kryptonite.

"So you said that you and Gohan were having some issues," she kept her voice soft and gentle. "Do you think you can tell me what's going on?"

Goten kept chipping away at his cookie. "I'm not really sure I want to talk about that, Videl," he said. "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Videl said, and she meant it. Goten didn't owe her to tell anything; this was hardly any of her concern, since Gohan had decided not to share either. It was just that she didn't want the opportunity to slip by.

Her hand reached out and found his. Goten tried to jerk back at first, but allowed Videl to take his hand anyway. She stroked the back of it with her thumb, in a slow, circular motion that she knew helped Gohan relax when he needed it. Sure enough, Goten's form became less tense almost instantly.

"I kinda have to, though." Goten said. "Apologize, I mean. I'm here at your kitchen table, all gloomy, and I won't even tell you what's wrong with me. It hardly seems fair."

"True," Videl agreed. "But life isn't always fair. You know that as well as I do, and I think my husband knows it better than anybody else." She smiled at him.

Goten paused, perhaps letting the words mull in his mind. Goten hadn't been born yet during the time of the Cell Games, so it was only natural that he sometimes forgot it ever occurred. .

"I suppose you're right," he eventually said. "I haven't really been fair to Gohan, I think. Which only makes me feel worse, because Gohan has been cheated by life enough already." He bit his lower lip hard and let his head fall. His cap fell from his hair, which tumbled over dark eyes so familiar to Videl.

"I assume you came by to set that straight?" Videl asked him. She kept her eyes on him, and never let go of his hand. She felt his fingers flex inside her palm, but held her grip.

Goten nodded his agreement. "Yeah. Or well, that was what I wanted to do. But now that I'm here, I have no idea what to tell him when he gets here."

"Maybe I can help?" Videl suggested.

Goten looked up at her through glazed eyes and managed a small smile. "Thanks, Videl, but it's complicated."

"Well then begin at the beginning."

And so he did. Goten told her everything that had happened, starting from the first second he had walked into her husband's literature class. She heard about his attitude, but very little about the reasoning behind it. She heard about his guilt and sorrow, but Goten never diverged on just _why_ he was intent on acting this way. There was no way that she could force it out of him, so she simply let him speak his mind, hoping that the answers would come forward by themselves.

"All in all, I've been a major douchebag." Goten concluded sullenly.

"I guess you can say that," Videl agreed. It was harsh, but truthful. She reckoned Goten could use some of that right now. "But there is no denying that you had your own reasons to act like that." This was also the truth. Experience had taught her that even the most disgusting of people, arsonists and rapists and murders alike, they all had some deeper underlying reason for the crimes they committed. How was a teenage boy anything different?

"Could we go to the balcony, please?" Goten asked her. Videl raised her eyebrows but didn't raise any questions. She followed Goten outside, though the sliding panel doors. Once in the open air, Goten pulled a cigarette out and lit it. He mumbled a silent apology to Videl, who let this slide by.

"I suppose I know why I was being such a little shit," Goten said after a moment's silence. "It's just not very easy to talk about." Smoke trailed from his nostrils as he sighed.

Videl couldn't take it anymore. She stepped up to her little brother and wrapped her arms around him. It was of no matter to her that he was almost two heads taller than she wa, or than he stank of tocabbo. She could just managed to put her chin on his shoulder, but she had to step on her toes to do so,

"Son Goten," she whispered to him, in a tone that was almost motherly. "Shut the fuck up."

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard me," Videl giggled. "You need to shut up already with all of that moping that you are doing. There's no need for it."

"No need?!" Goten was doing his best not to sound insulted. "Videl, what I want to say to Gohan might completely change the way he looks at me! How can I do anything else but mope about it?"

Videl stepped away from their embrace, drawing a scowl on her face. It had been a while since she had glared daggers like that at anyone, but she figured she still had her game on.

"Now you listen to me," she said. She prodded Goten's chest with a neatly trimmed index finger. "I remember a time where your brother had to tell me that he was a super powered half-alien. He also had to confess to me that he could blow up the Earth if he was having an off day. Did any of that change me?" He tried to look away, but she forced a hand under his chin and aligned their fields of vision.

"No it didn't."

"Exactly," Videl said, letting go of Goten's face. "So I want you to get this into that thick skull of yours: Nothing will change Nothing. At. All."

Goten blinked at her stupidly, and Videl sighed. He really was just as naïve as the family name allowed. "Gohan would in no way at all ban you from his life, no matter what you have to say to him. And if you honestly think that he will, you better just migrate to the North Pole and live life as a recluse, because nobody can actually be that stupid." Once again, she knew that her words sounded less than friendly, but she also thought them necessary.

Slowly, the words began to sink in. Goten's gaze dropped to his feet, then back up to Videl. Only now he was smiling.

"Thank you," he said, honesty in his voice. "You're right, you're absolutely right."

"So can we all be friends again now?"

"Yeah we can," Goten replied, hugging her in gratitude. "I suppose I just wanted to act tough, make myself seem bigger than I actually am."

Videl chuckled, rubbing Goten's back in their embrace. "So, what's her name?"

Goten was so shocked he immediately pulled back from the hug. "What?!"

Videl outright laughed in his face. "Oh, c'mon Goten," she giggled. "Don't think you can fool me. You're a walking, ticking bomb of hormones. If you're trying to act like a hardass, you're obviously trying to impress the ladies." Old friends sprang to mind, just like their attitudes, which could be just as stupid as their blonde hair always implied.

"How? How did y—"

"I am a mother and a wife, Goten," Videl laughed. "I know these things, just trust me."

And then his smile grew wider. It warmed her heart to see it; the little boy, broken and sullen, now whole again and ready to face the world. Poets would stand in line to turn it into words and sell it for a cheap buck.

"Say," Goten eventually said. He took a final drag from his cigarette and flung the butt away. "Would you mind if I go away now? I can talk to Gohan some other time. I just have a few things to think about now."

"Sure thing, sweetheart."

He sank through his hunches, ready to blast off the balcony. He stopped first, though.

"Oh, and could you please keep quiet about this to Gohan? I kind of want to tell him myself."

"You don't even have to ask."

Goten graced her with one more smile that she registered as happy and content. Then he blasted off into the air, leaving her alone on the balcony once more.

In ten minutes, her husband would arrive home after a deep conversation with Trunks. He was likely to be hungry, which reminded her to take the lasagnes out of the oven.

_A happy husband is a horny husband… _


	4. Chapter 4

**Here you go, lovely people! The final chapter already *crowd goes 'booooooo!'* **

**Apparently I was wrong with my claim previous Sunday. Shortest chapter my ass...Sorry if you thought the story was too short, but I don't think I could've dragged it out for another chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! Till the next one!**

**Now please read, review and enjoy!**

* * *

Hideous as the school's interior may have been, the patio in the middle of the school grounds was the exact opposite. Whoever had been behind renovating the building had a serious amount of money to flaunt. A large part of the patio was located so that it could catch the light of the sun during the better part of the day. From noon until six the place would be very nice and pleasantly warm, making it the ideal place to sit down and do some work.

Gohan liked the patio. Summer had been drawing to a close, much to his chagrin. That's why the patio felt like such a blessing. Here he could relish the final rays of warmth while also doing whatever paper grading he still had left to do.

On the Friday of that particular week Gohan found himself reclining back in one of the chairs, his files for school positioned in his lap and a cup of coffee to his right. He tried his earnest best to focus on the work in front of him, but it seemed that this wasn't a week meant for serious business. He simply couldn't keep his head to it, not with this certain power level that he kept sensing roaming the halls of the school.

It was past four in the afternoon already, so most of the students had gone home. Apart from the unlucky class here and there, the school should be mostly empty by now; none of the teachers liked to linger around after their final lesson of the day. So, the possible reason why Goten was still walking down a hallway somewhere was burning in Gohan's mind like a big, ugly question mark.

He absentmindedly reached for his suitcase and plucked out the bag of mint candies that Cynthia had given him. It had been a hopeless case of trying to show her affection, obviously, but Gohan had still thanked her graciously for them. Food was always appreciated.

He tipped all of his papers into his suitcase. He couldn't stand looking at them any longer; they simply gave him headaches. Perhaps it was best to just pack up everything and go home, celebrate the weekend with his wife and daughter like any normal father would do. But he couldn't. Goten's troubled Ki wouldn't allow him to.

The basic concept of Ki reading was something Gohan could give lectures about for days on end. Over the years he had begun to realize the depths of its potential. It wasn't just a tool for sensing how strong the enemy was. In time he had learned to separate different Ki signals, leaving him able to identify every individual one. Aside from that, Ki reading could also be used to get a bit of a grip on how the owner was feeling. It wasn't extremely precise, but someone who felt troubled had very different fluctuations in their energy than someone who is living the life of their dreams.

At this very moment, Goten felt troubled, to say the least.

Given the knowledge that Gohan had acquired over the past few days, it was almost completely safe to say that he was at the root of the problem. Or he was very strongly tied to it at least. The real issue was a bit deeper than that, but at the moment Gohan himself was the main obstacle to overcome the problem as a whole. It almost made him feel guilty.

He hoped Goten would come over already. Gohan just wanted to end all of this nonsense. He was in a serious need for eight solid hours of sleep, and he felt his life might improve a whole lot if his little brother just looked him in the eyes again, instead of dropping his gaze instantly.

What made it even worse was that Gohan _knew_. He actually knew what was eating Goten up on the inside. Trunks had been a fantastic help at uncovering this, and for the last two days Gohan had spent his time on the verge of dragging Goten out and confronting him with it. But he couldn't do such a thing. Goten was feeling fragile now. He was confused, most likely even hurt. This wasn't something that should be forced out of him, but he should rather be given the chance to deal with it on his own.

Goten would come to him if he was ready for it.

If only the wait for it wasn't so infuriating.

Gohan groaned audibly. Why couldn't it just be tomorrow already?

His cell phone buzzed in pocket. He fished it out and read his wife's name on the screen, with a pink little heart to the right of it. He smiled. She was probably just going to ask him when he would be home, but even that felt like moral support at a time like this.

He picked up. "Hey honey."

"Hey sweetie," Videl greeted him from the other end of the line. "Hey, how late do you think you'll be home? I have to know so I can turn on the oven on time."

"I was just thinking of packing my stuff up and heading home," Gohan told her. "I'm tired and I have a serious craving for the weekend. And your cooking of course."

He could envision Videl smiling on the other side. "Well then you best hurry up! I'm making sukiyaki and it's smelling de-li-cious!"

"Will do," Gohan said. He reached for his suitcase and starting throwing the remainder of his belongings in. "Oh, by the way, how's Pan been doing?"

"She's been great!" Videl cheered. "She napped for a bit this morning, but when she woke up she was pretty much our little girl again. She played for most of the afternoon, and she almost murdered the cat with one of her Barbies, but she hasn't really been any trouble."

"Great!" Gohan was happy to hear that. Being able to hug a healthy and energetic Pan when he got home would do wonders for his sour mood. "Tell her that Daddy is on his way home then. I should be back in about—"

"Hey?" The sound came from behind him.

Gohan turned around. "Videl, sorry, but I think I might be late for dinner tonight."

"Why? Did anything come up?" Videl asked.

"Not _anything_, more like somebody," Gohan replied. "It seems that I have company."

He thanked the Gods for having such a compassionate wife. "Sure thing sweetie, I understand. I'll put your dinner in the microwave."

"Thanks darling, see you soon." And then he hung up on her.

Goten was standing about ten feet away from him. His book bag was slowly swinging back and forth along the ground, seemingly forgotten. He didn't seem to be looking at Gohan directly, but rather at the folds of his collar. He was dancing on the balls of his feet.

"Hey," Gohan said, unsure how to react. "What are you doing here?"

It took a while for Goten to actually say something. He dropped his bag and stepped closer to Gohan, but for a while all he seemed to be able to do was stare at his own feet. Gohan took this time to sit down and gesture to the chair beside him, but Goten made no move to take a seat.

"Okay look," Goten began, running a hand through his hair and knocking his cap askew. "I want to talk to you for a minute," he said. But then he frowned. "But I need you to be serious about this."

"What makes you think I wouldn't take it seriously?"

"Well, we haven't exactly been nice to each other lately," Goten said. "I would understand it if want to beat me senseless."

"I thought about that," Gohan confessed. "But then I realized I can still kick your scrawny ass up and down the playing field every day of the week, so that would've made it unfair." He laughed. "C'mon, sit." He tapped the chair beside him.

Goten finally did sit down, but he didn't seem to relax even the littlest bit. He had removed his cap from his head, and he was fidgeting with the golden sticker on top. It unnerved Gohan as well, but he made no comment on it.

Goten scraped his throat. "First of all,' he hesitated for a split second, but then continued. "First of all I would like to apologize," he hung his head and tossed his cap aside like a dirty rag. "There is no excuse for behaving the way I did, I'm sorry."

Gohan smiled and felt his mood turn for the better. His features softened and he reached out his hand, placing it on his brother's knee. He gave it a firm squeeze.

"Apology accepted," he said. "And I mean that," Goten looked up at him. "I'm really happy that you came by to make amends."

"Well it wasn't exactly easy."

"I know it wasn't," Gohan said. "That's why I admire you for it."

Goten managed a weak smile. "I really am sorry for acting like such a jerk. I probably confused the hell out of you."

"You did at first," Gohan told him. "But then I figured you might have your reasons. I suppose that is the 'second of all' you want to talk about."

Goten nodded. "I wanted to tell you what I was feeling then," and then slowly, "Even though I still don't get about half of it."

Gohan patted his little brother on the shoulder. "Hey, being a teenager is always confusing, don't blame yourself for it."

"I suppose I just wanted to act tough," Goten said. "I didn't know how other people would respond to me, or if they would even like me in the first place."

Gohan raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're afraid of being bullied," he tried to refrain from snickering, and gave Goten a look that screamed 'concerned teacher'.

"Oh, no," Goten exclaimed, his hands rising in defence. "God no. Like I would let any bully get the better of me."

"You better not, or else I have to tell Vegeta on you." The brothers shared a laugh, both of them genuinely forgetting the tension for a moment. After that, Goten reverted right back to being awkward.

"I guess it's safe to say I just didn't know how to handle this new situation I was in," Goten said. "Nobody knows what it's like to be ripped from the mountains and thrown in the middle of society." Gohan could only stare.

"Well, aside from you, of course," Goten corrected himself. "Anyhow, that's why I was dressed so ridiculously."

Gohan didn't say anything; he knew that Goten would further elaborate anyway.

"But aside from that, something else was bugging me," Goten vented his feelings. "And it still is. I'm not sure how to handle it."

This was the part that Gohan was most intent on getting out in the open. He sat up from his laidback position, and turned to look Goten in the eye properly. "Tell me about it."

"I don't know," Goten suddenly hesitated. He tried his best to look away, but Gohan kept his stare fixed. Goten sighed. "It's just that... I don't…"

Gohan allowed his sibling to find the right words. Someone in deep conflict with himself always has to be the one to make the first move, that's what Gohan believed.

"Okay," Goten had obviously decided. He drew a deep breath and spoke, "It's like this: Lately, and by that I mean for I don't how long, I've been having these… these feelings. That's the only way I can describe them. I really don't know what to make of them. Or, well, I do know, and I'm just not willing to give into them just yet."

There was another deep inhale. "So as you may or may not understand, these _feelings _are driving me fucking insane. Really, it eat less because of them, I sleep far worse than I used to. And because they just won't leave me the fuck alone…" Goten exhaled sharply, and then pressed his palms firmly against his temples, "They're literally driving me mad, and I've been taking my anger out on you. FUCK!"

Goten's hand curled into fists. "I can't believe I did that to you."

Gohan didn't doubt for an instant. Before Goten could make a single move, his big brother had already taken him into a firm embrace. Goten was trembling all over, and Gohan felt his shoulders strain painfully when Goten hugged him back for comfort. The elder brother rubbed the other's back slowly. It took a long time for Goten to relax a bit, but when he did, he sighed. It was like he breathed off all of his concerns and worries.

"Thank you," he said, looking at Gohan. He wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeves. "I needed that."

"No worries," Gohan smiled at him. "I'm just glad that we're on the same page again."

"Yeah, me too," Goten managed a watery smile in return. "Even still, I owe you an explanation."

Gohan shrugged. "I know this is difficult for you. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

"But that's the thing," Goten quipped. "I want to tell you. It's just that I don't really know how."

"Do it like it's a band aid, do it quick and be done with it," Gohan proposed. "Or you could just let it fester inside, like all grown-ups do."

"Okay, here goes," Goten began. "I came here to tell you that… I wanted to let you know that… I think you should know…" None of the sentences he started actually had an end to them. While Goten was getting more and more frustrated, Gohan was finding it increasingly harder to keep from laughing.

"UGH!" Goten groaned. "I don't know how to say this!"

"You think you might be gay."

"Huh? I… What?!" Goten gaped at him, wide-eyed and blinking slowly.

"You think you might be gay," Gohan repeated. He sat there in his chair, smiling and awaiting his little brother's reply. He was curious whether Goten would confirm or deny.

Goten's hands reached for his hair, tying it in knots around his fingers. He stood up from his chair and began to pace, murmuring to himself under his breath. The poor kid looked a bit delirious.

"Just… How in the name…" He glanced at Gohan every few seconds or so, maybe checking whether or not he had just taken a step out of reality.

Goten suddenly stood still and looked at Gohan with eyes that almost seemed desperate. He almost whispered, "How?"

* * *

"How?"

It was like he stood there for ages, waiting for an answer to come. All Gohan did was sit there, and smile for some reason that Goten couldn't comprehend. Not that he could really get a grip on anything right now; left was right, Monday was twelve o'clock and elephants did the hokey-pokey. His brains felt like a thunderstorm had passed though.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out," Gohan eventually did speak. Goten tore his gaze away from his trembling fingertips to look Gohan in the eyes. That smile was still there, never wavering. "It was kind of like trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle. All I had to do was find the right pieces."

Goten could still barely speak. He managed to croak out another "How?", but nothing else useful left his lips.

Gohan snickered. "Well, just like you already told me yourself, I quickly figured out, with the help of our old man, that you were obviously trying to impress someone with that attitude of yours. Someone that made you feel butterflies in your stomach to boot."

Today must've been Opposite Day. "Dad helped you figure out _that_?!"

His older brother laughed at his stupefaction. "Yeah, I know it sounds unlikely, but it's true," he cleared his throat. "Anyhow, I spent about a whole week trying to figure out which girl could turn your head upside down like that. I was about to give up hope, but at the time I didn't know that girls weren't even in the picture. Want anything to drink?" He pointed at his own forgotten coffee, now cold.

Goten nodded slowly. It was amazing to see how incredibly natural Gohan was acting about it. Normal people wouldn't just go and get coffee in the middle of outing their little brothers.

"Tea?" Gohan asked.

"I hate tea," Goten replied absentmindedly. "I thought you knew that."

"Oh right, sorry," Gohan chuckled and scratched his neck. "I'll get you some hot chocolate then. It seems to be the Saiyan's Special this week." And with that he was off.

Goten felt his pulse beating in his temples. His entire world had just been turned around and shaken violently. He never expected Gohan to be anything less than okay about this, but he had never anticipated that Gohan actually knew it already. Furthermore, it even seemed to amuse his big brother to some degree.

It had taken Goten months to actually accept it as a part of his life. He had never hated himself over it, not even in the slightest. Feelings were something that he didn't always have control over, this being the evidence to prove it. Yet he felt like a punctured balloon; he was about to pop from the strain when Gohan had just poked him with the needle of truth.

Videl was right, of course she was. Gohan didn't seem to have any issues with him. He still didn't blame himself for fearing his sibling's judgement though; Gohan had always been a role model in his life, maybe even more so than Goku.

Gohan returned, carrying two cups on a platter. He set it down on small table between the two chairs, scooping the mugs off and handing one to Goten. The younger brother took it with fingers that were still shaking lightly, but at least he was gaining back control. Goten sat down, mirroring Gohan's actions.

"So, where were we?" Gohan asked, sipping his tea in total relaxation.

"We uhm," It was still very hard to say. "We were talking about 'how girls weren't even in the picture'."

"Oh right," Gohan turned in his seat. "Well, like I said, for some time I actually thought you were chasing skirts. Believe it or not, but we Sons seem to be something like lady magnets."

Goten actually found it in himself to laugh at that. "Well of course we are. Just look at our pretty faces; there's no denying it."

"Indeed there isn't," Gohan smirked. Arrogance wasn't in their genes, but a good sense of humour definitely was. "Too bad the ladies can't claim that pretty looker of a Goten though, boy will they be beat."

"And the women will cry through the centuries," Goten chipped in. Then the feeling of laughter subsided. "So, how did you find out anyway? Where was the missing piece?"

"Believe it or not," Gohan sipped his tea again. "It came to me in the form of this adorable purple-haired boy."

Goten nearly spat out his hot chocolate, and then gasped. "Trunks told you?!"

"Well he didn't exactly tell me, but what he did say helped me figure it all out," Gohan explained. "Oh, and great to see that you agree Trunks is adorable!" he lifted his mug in a celebratory fashion.

"And what's your basis to prove this?" Goten queried, ignoring the remark but still turning red in the cheeks.

"That Trunks is adorable?"

"Gohan…."

"Right, right, hold your horses. Remember the few years before and after Buu did his business on Earth?" Gohan asked. When his little brother nodded, he continued, "Well back then you were always trying to upstage Trunks. You would flex your muscles and get all prissy when he beat you at sparring. Well you haven't been acting a whole lot differently the past few weeks."

Goten soaked these words in carefully. Had he been so obvious about it all? Perhaps it was that reversed psychology that parents always loved so much, playing its nasty and ironic tricks.

"Trunks reminded me of that too," Gohan divulged. "And then I suddenly remembered how much sass you were giving me in front of the school during the second week of term. There wasn't anybody around but Trunks. When I thought of that, it all just sort of clicked in my head."

"Yeah, I suppose it was a bit obvious…" Goten truly wanted to feel relief wash over him, but it didn't. It was great to finally be able to speak his heart to someone, and it was even more fantastic that that person was Gohan, but now all of a sudden a hurdle on the path to peace and acceptance had been cleared and the other hurdles were coming into view. One of them seemed impossible to jump.

"Are you going to tell him?" Gohan asked, as if he could read Goten's mind. "Because, in my humble opinion, I really think you should."

Goten shrugged. He felt like he had just swallowed a brick, and he reckoned his face looked like it too. "I really want to tell him, but I'm afraid." Goten bit his lip. "I'm afraid that he'll be repulsed. I'm afraid that he won't speak to me anymore. Hell, I'm even terrified of the mere idea of having to tell him."

"Are you in love with him?" Gohan asked. Goten felt big hands encircling his, pressing them onto the mug he was apparently still holding. The warmth felt nice on his palms.

Goten swallowed. He didn't look up at Gohan, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Well, I think that Trunks will be totally cool about it," Gohan assured him. Goten wanted to believe him, but wasn't sure if he couldn't.

"Trunks is as straight as they come, though," Goten reminded his brother. "You know how proud he is of his porn stash. He's all into girls with big tits and unnatural blondes."

Gohan laughed. "He seems to be, but perhaps he'd be interested in playing for the other team as well," he nudged Goten with his elbow, who couldn't resist the temptation to laugh. Gohan's tendency to crack jokes in the most awkward situations could be a gift from the heavens sometimes.

"How should I go about it then?" Goten asked. His hand went to his neck. "Trunks isn't exactly uncomfortable with his masculinity. Even if he is cool about me being gay, he'll still feel completely exposed one way or another. I suppose it's just a guy thing."

Gohan smiled. "Do whatever feels best. Tell him, or write to him. You can kiss him, or possibly ram it into his thick skull with your fists, since that always seems to work. It's all up to you. I can't help you decide. As with all matters of the when you know… you just do. You can't miss it."

And then it was all resolved. Just like that, like the flick of a switch. Gohan should've just quit teaching school and become a poet instead. Goten now felt determined to put his worries behind him. Trunks wouldn't hate him simply for his sexuality; Goten himself was being a fool for even suspecting him of it.

Gohan saw him smile. "Better now?" he asked.

"Lots," Goten replied. "Thanks a lot, Gohan. I suppose there's nothing as scary as fighting Buu or Lord Bills. Telling my best friend I'm madly in love with him seems like child's play now."

Gohan laughed heartily. "Ease it down with the sarcasm, will you. I just want you to realize that there's nothing wrong with being gay. It's completely natural, and you should never let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Don't worry about that," Goten drank a bit. The taste of chocolate was heavenly now that his mood had brightened. "If they do, I'll just punch them to the moon."

"That's what they deserve for making gay Saiyans angry. If they think that's unnatural, wait until you kick them through a skyscraper."

"Well obviously they'll find my kicks absolutely fabulous," Goten joked. The brothers laughed together, a deep and pleasant rumble resounding across the school patio.

"Hey, sorry to have to ask this," Gohan set aside his empty tea glass. "But… why Trunks? Why couldn't you have picked out a nicer boy to fall in love with? Like Chad for example."

Goten pressed a hand to his mouth. His shoulders quaked and his face grew red in his mute fit of laughter. Soon he was hitching for breath, wiping some wetness away from the corners of his eyes.

When he finally came to a bit, he managed to speak through the occasional after quake, "Have you _seen_ him?"

"Yes I have," Gohan said, his face forced into seriousness. "Pretty eyes that one has, but there's also that nasty attitude from time to time."

Goten grew red again, giggling almost childishly. He buried his face in his hands, so his voice sounded muffled, "Oh god, I can't believe I'm talking about boys with my brother."

"Well squirt, you better get used to it, because I'm obligated to do that, being your big brother and all."

Goten got up from his chair. The two siblings crossed gazes, two sets of dark eyes twinkling joyfully. They embraced, gripping each other tightly.

"Thank you," Goten almost whispered.

"No problem, squirt."

Goten pulled back from the hug, and simply remained standing for a moment. He said nothing, but simply took a few seconds to enjoy the peace of soul he suddenly felt. It had been far too long.

Eventually he turned to Gohan. "Say, I'm gonna head out for the time being. You should too; I think the wife wants you home."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Gohan said. He stood up as well, picking up his briefcase and stretching his back the way one might do after a long day at work. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Goten contemplated this for a few seconds, "I suppose I'll go home and get me a lot of good sleep tonight. I'll go over to Trunks's house tomorrow and tell him. Better get it out of the way quickly, especially since I'm still brewing with confidence."

"Good luck with that," Gohan said, smiling. "And let me know how it goes, okay?"

"Obviously," Goten replied. "Got any tips that might help me?"

"Yes, I've got one. Kiss him gently when you do. Guys don't appreciate a random head-butt."

* * *

"Daddy, Daddy!" Pan came running into the den, little arms flailing excitedly. "Daddy! There's someone at the door. Do you know who it is?"

Gohan looked up from his novel and smiled at his little princess. "Well I don't know sweetheart, maybe you can tell me. Can you _feel _who it is?" He had been teaching Pan the basics of Ki reading, and the girl was catching on very quickly.

Pan contorted her face in utmost concentration, thinking deeply. Then her face brightened. "It's Uncle Goten, Daddy!"

"Well why don't we go answer the door then," Gohan said. He rose from his chair and scooped his daughter up from the floor, putting her on his shoulders in the way he knew she absolutely adored. Father and child crossed the den and the living room. The front door swung open with just the softest shriek of protest.

Goten stood on the other side, smiling and his arms wide. Pan wasted no time and leaped from Gohan's shoulder, crashing into her favourite and only uncle.

It had been two months since the scene in the patio of the school had unfolded. Goten and Gohan were getting along better than ever, much to the surprise of Goten's fellow classmates. The boy had also made a very serious change in attire; he wore a crisp white blouse and jeans that actually fitted. He looked like Goten again.

Despite the fact that the two brothers were once again two peas in the same pod, there were still some things that remained open for discussion. Goten had kept silent about his talking to with Trunks. It wasn't surprising in any sense; he had had to rake together the courage and tell his best friend that he was in love with him. The nerves he must've felt were probably comparable to those of a man diffusing a nuclear war head.

Gohan didn't really need to hear the story, even if he wanted to. Goten and Trunks were still always hanging around each other at school. Gohan figured he noted a sense of awkwardness radiating from the purple-haired kid, but that had faded fast enough. It was all good, yet the teacher would still want to hear how their conversation had gone. He felt obliged to it, thanks to the Big Brother Curse. He would ask the kid over dinner; prying something loose out of a Son was best done with a plate of food in front of them.

"Hey Gohan," Goten stuck up his hand and grinned broadly. Gohan returned the greeting. Goten piped up "Hey listen, I kind of invited somebody over today, I hope that's no big deal?"

Gohan raised his eyebrows, but didn't object. He simply nodded and Goten relaxed visibly at this. Maybe he should go warn Videl; if he had invited Trunks it would be a wise decision to cook two extra pans of macaroni, just for safety.

"Come on in," Gohan said, waving Goten inside. "Videl's already busy making us dinner; it shouldn't take more than an hour."

"Sure thing," Goten replied. He made certain that Pan was safely seated on his neck, and then stepped inside the apartment. His nostrils flared when the smells reached him. "God, it smells fantastic. You're so lucky with that wife of yours."

"You can say that again," Gohan laughed. "It's not that I don't know how to cook, but I am more used the unconventional way of preparing meals." He recounted his days in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where Ki cooking had almost turned into a sport.

"Mind coming with me to the balcony?" Goten asked. He tapped the pocket of his blouse. Gohan gave him a sharp look, to which Goten replied, "Hey, I'm trying my best to quit. Besides, Mom told me she'd whack me in the head with her frying pan if she even _saw _me smoking ever again. I'd like to keep my skull intact, thank you very much."

Five minutes later they were seated on the rusted lawn chairs Videl had managed to take for a dime or two at some random garden sale. Gohan's wife refused to have her family name buy her luxury, and wanted to work for every penny herself. Pan had gone off to play in the living room, all pepped up and excited thanks to Goten's promise of playing the entire evening.

Goten lit his cigarette and inhaled slowly. Gohan ignored the smell.

"Well, where to start, where to start," Goten said. Smoke swirled from his nostrils. "We have more catching up to do than I actually thought."

"Why don't you start at what you did after you left the patio," Gohan suggested. "Pick things up right where we left them off."

"Okay, sure," Goten seemed to be digging in his mind. "Well, I wanted to get me a good eight hours before confronting Trunks about my situation. I got them all right, but not before I got cornered by Mom."

Gohan raised his eyebrows. "What was her problem?"

"She had found the pack of smokes in my school bag two days earlier," Goten confessed. "Also, the school had called her about me skipping two days of classes. She was not happy about that."

"Go figure."

"Right," Goten said. He tapped some ashes from his cigarette. "Anyhow, she wanted to know what I've been up to lately. She began asking me why I treated you the way I did, and why I had been so silent for so long. So I told her."

Gohan smiled at his little brother. He was impressed and he wanted to show it. Chi-Chi was the woman who was badgering her children to get married and make babies, even if those children were only six years old. Having to tell her that Pan might be the only grandchild she was ever going to have was treading into the lion's den.

"How did she react?" Gohan asked. "Angry, or upset, or anything?"

Goten shook his head. "She and Dad were really cool about it. I always knew that Dad wouldn't make a big deal out of it, and I suspect Mom of secretly wishing this would happen. I suppose she needs someone else to talk to about men other than Bulma."

"How come they haven't talked to me about this, though?" Gohan questioned. "I figured they would want to confide in me. You know, to help spare your tender feelings and all."

"I told them to wait until I gave them the green light," Goten answered. "I told them I wanted to tell everyone myself."

'Ah, wise beyond your years," Gohan said. "Okay, and then what happened?"

Goten inhaled from his cigarette. His words came out in white wisps. "I got a good night of sleep, and the day after that I went to Capsule Corps to tell Trunks."

"How did he respond?"

Goten chuckled. "Well at first I only told him, 'Trunks, I'm gay'. He was completely baffled, of course."

"Did he go all wide-eyed and uncomfortable?" Gohan asked, smirking. Trunks didn't seem to have any problem with gay people. Debunking his masculinity however, was dangerous territory.

"Of course he did, you know him," Goten laughed happily. He threw the remainder of his cigarette over the balcony, taking a few seconds to watch it plummet to the earth below. "But then I also had to tell him about… well, you know what I mean."

Gohan nodded. "I take it that he was okay about it. He doesn't seem to act any different when I see you two in class."

"He was, he was," Goten grew a wide and happy smile. "It took him a while to process, and he was a bit uncomfortable with it at first, but I think that he'll be okay. He knows just as well as I do that this'll all pass eventually."

"And then what? Did you guys game all day without speaking another word about it?" Much to his surprise, Goten shook his head. The tinge of pink that crawled across his cheeks didn't go unnoticed either.

"What did you do?" Gohan asked again, his curiosity now peaking.

"It's a bit embarrassing," Goten said shyly. He clapped a hand to his mouth to stifle a giggle. "You're probably not going to believe this, but…"

"But what?"

Goten sighed and simply blurted out the words, "We kissed."

Gohan needed a good reality check, possibly a smack in the face, or something along those lines. He realised that his mouth was open, so he closed it. "You kissed? I mean, did you kiss him or…"

"No, I didn't," Goten confessed. "That's why it's unbelievable. After I told him how I felt about him, he was silent for a few minutes. After that he just kept staring at me for some reason I didn't understand. It was a bit creepy, you know? I had spent so long trying to avoid his eyes, and now they were on me like he was trying to burn a hole right through me."

"Okay, just for the record," Gohan said, rubbing his temples in confusion. "Trunks kissed you?"

Goten nodded. He tried to refrain from smiling, but his lips still twitched. "Yes, he did. I eventually asked him why he was staring at me like that. He replied with 'I just have to try something', and then he just grabbed my face and kissed me."

Gohan tried his best to make sense of this, but the elephants dancing the hokey-pokey in his mind wouldn't allow it. "And then what?"

"After that he told me he was sorry," Goten said, shrugging. "You should've seen him; he felt so bad. He was sorry that he couldn't be gay for me, I think."

"Trunks wanted to be gay for you?"

"Yes, apparently, but he couldn't," Goten smiled. "But that's okay. I managed to vent my feelings, and I actually got to kiss him, so I figure it's a win-win situation."

Gohan was getting a grip on himself again. He smirked, "Was he any good?"

"Surprisingly enough, yes he was," Goten said. "A bit sloppy with the tongue, but I reckon it was his first kiss too."

"Please," Gohan begged. "Too much information. I don't have to know how Trunks is with his tongue."

"Hey, you asked for it yourself."

"And I already regret it."

"You really have to sort out your priorities," Goten shook his head and chuckled.

"Well it's good to see you're doing so great," Gohan told his little brother. "I was worried you would get all depressed again, but I suppose I was wrong about that," Pan could be heard from the living room, hopefully doing something not so destructive. Gohan nudged his head at the balcony door. "What do you say we go inside?"

"Fine with me," Goten said. The two brothers went back into the apartment. Pan immediately joined them, chit-chatting happily about some of the new toys Daddy had bought her the week before.

"Say, Goten, how late will Trunks get here?" Gohan asked. The kitchen smelt better by the second, and it seemed that dinner would be served sooner than anticipated.

"Trunks isn't coming over," Goten told him.

"Then who is?" And right then the doorbell rang.

Goten smirked. "Speak of the Devil…" He went for the front door and opened it. Gohan immediately recognized the boy on the other side; the kid was a grade higher up than Goten was. Gohan also taught him literature. If he remembered correctly the guy was named Kay. Kay stood a few inches taller than Goten, with dirty blonde hair falling into his face. He was rather skinny and wore a belt made of bullets. So Goten liked the more alternative guys. Duly noted.

Goten hugged Kay, laying his head on his shoulder and sighing contently. Gohan was almost sure he could hear his little brother whisper "I missed you."

How sweet and endearing, Goten's first boyfriend. Of course it wasn't anything Gohan had expected, but hey, life was full of surprises. Like the way Goten softly kissed Kay on the lips when he thought Gohan wasn't looking.

"Awwwwww!" Videl had walked into the room, carrying a gigantic pan of macaroni and cooing loudly. "Look at them Gohan, aren't they cute together?"

The two lovebirds immediately released each other, cheeks turning a rather aggressive shade of red.

"Yeah they are," Gohan chipped in, "But I do have to ask them to keep their tongues to themselves when there are children in the room."

Goten chuckled and scratched his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm still kind of new to all of this."

"No problem," Gohan waved it off. "It's not as bad as having to hear how Trunks kisses."

"Oh, I heard he was pretty good!" Kay teased an ever embarrassed Goten. He then threw an arm around him. "Sorry love, you know I like to tick you off."

"Well you better watch it with that," Goten warned him. "Cause if you hurt my achy-breaky heart, you've got Gohan to deal with."

"That's right," Gohan said. "Just so you're warned up front."

Kay laughed loudly. "Oh hell," he said. "Just my luck. Of all the boys to fall in love with, I just have to go and pick the teacher's pet."

* * *

**Shocked? Surprised? Let me know in the reviews, and thank you, dear reader, for sticking with me on the ride to the end :)**

**"As with all matters of the when you know… you just do. You can't miss it." This absolutely brilliant quote is from my great, great friend ~Boboleta. Thanks a ton for letting me use it! You can find the quote itself in the story Matters of the Heart, which can be found on Team Dragon Star's page (check my profile for the link).**

**See you and take care!**


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